The country is short of about 400 rural veterinarians - a shortage sector leaders warn could threaten our ability to detect serious animal diseases, to monitor food safety and which could also compromise animal welfare.
The New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) estimates the Otago Southland area is short by more than 20 vets.
Association president John Maclachlan said the shortage was so acute in some parts of the country that sick and injured animals could not be treated and farmers were castrating horses and dehorning cattle without anaesthetic.
‘‘It is not yet catastrophic, but it won't be long before it is catastrophic,'' he said.
Dr Maclachlan said in an interview that while there was a general shortage, Otago-Southland, the South Island West Coast, the North Island East Coast and Northland were particularly short.
‘‘Everyone is struggling to get vets,'' he said.
NZVA board member Gavin Sinclair, from VetSouth, in Gore, said the growth in dairying in the South had accentuated the shortage.
‘‘There wouldn't be many practices in Otago and Southland that have a full quota of vets.''
His practice employs 30 vets throughout Southland, but has been seeking another four.
The perception of relative isolation in the South was hampering recruitment, but the region also suffered from the same factors driving the national shortage of rural vets - changing demographics, different attitudes and expectations of young people, growing regulatory compliance, remuneration and lifestyle issues.
He said the region's dairying growth also created opportunities for vets to specialise in areas such as mastitis treatment.
Part of the problem was the squeeze on profits in rural practices, which Dr Maclachlan said made it difficult to recruit and pay competitive wages.
Dr Maclachlan thought Massey University lowering the academic standard required for entry was one way to address the shortage. It was his own view and he had not discussed it with the NZVA, but he said Massey could look at candidates' other attributes, rather than just academic skills, as the course entry threshold was exceptionally high.
Dr Maclachlan said vets were usually the first people to identify the outbreak of an exotic animal disease and worked in the areas of animal welfare and food safety, key issues for an economy reliant on exporting rural produce.
There were fewer than 2500 registered vets in NZ, Dr Maclachlan said, and employment opportunities were increasing, for example in meat inspection and with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, which employs more than 300 vets.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to retain New Zealand-trained graduates, who were lured overseas by wages two to three times those here, and who had concerns about repaying student loans of between $50,000 and $60,000 for one of the most expensive university graduate courses.
Retaining vets in rural practices was also difficult, with many favouring an urban lifestyle and being turned-off by long hours and the perception that graduates had little support.
Dr Maclachlan said another issue was the disproportionately large number of female graduates, with some recent classes comprising 80% women. Rural vet practices could be physically demanding, which was not always appealing for females.
The shortage was not peculiar to New Zealand.
Dr Maclachlan said the United States Congress recently approved an additional US$1.6 billion (about $NZ2 billion) in funding over the next 10 years to address the vet shortage.
It was an area he said NZ had to address, but was ignoring, despite the national economy's reliance on food exports.