The Government expands vet scheme

The Government is expanding its voluntary bonding scheme for veterinarians. Agriculture Minister David Carter says the scheme will expand to cover all practices that deal with production animals. The scheme, launched last year, encourages new graduates to stay in an eligible practice by providing a taxable payment of $11,000 for every year, up to five years, that they are working in the practice. The scheme was originally aimed at practices in specific rural areas. Since then, 20 vets have been accepted into the scheme reports Rural News. From this year, all practices that deal with production animals like dairy and beef cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry will be eligible, providing the vets receiving the funding spend most of their time working with these animals. Carter says the changes are the result of feedback from veterinarians and the NZ Vet Association. "˜When the scheme was launched, MAF acknowledged that good data on vet shortages was scarce, so a transition year was agreed while vets and their association, as well as Massey University and the Vet Council, could be consulted on the final design of the scheme,' he says. "˜Its main limitation appeared to be the targeting of specific regions.