For Rory Dean, challenges like calving in a blizzard, being threatened with a bullet and operating on a ewe despite waves of nausea are balanced by the pure joy of his surroundings and the people he meets.
The Scottish vet, now working in Northland’s Kaipara district, has written a book about his experiences entitled Adventures of a Country Vet.
Dean graduated from the Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in 2015 and, only a decade on, has pages worth of stories to tell, including some stomach-churning operations in the field.
A particularly nasty obstetric presentation resulted in being unable to deliver a calf despite trying all sorts of procedures.
“In the end, the cow was going to be euthanised and I was informed that there was a bullet for the cow and a bullet for myself, which was a lovely thing to hear at 11pm on a rainy winter’s evening.”
He also recounts, in sometimes humorous but gory detail, how he had to battle food poisoning dealing with a ewe’s prolapsed uterus.
It’s not uncommon to work into the evening looking after a patient and then be out pregnancy testing cattle first thing in the morning, he told RNZ’s Country Life.
“As well as the physical toll, there’s the mental toll, and people are increasingly aware of that and it’s great now that more and more vets are seeking support for compassion fatigue and their own mental health.”
But Dean, who was enthused by the classic James Herriot books about working as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales, wants to encourage others into the profession and describes the solace he finds in the beautiful workplaces he inhabits and the characters and kindness he meets when out on the job.
Rory Dean at work in the cow shed.
“That’s probably my favourite part of writing ... the characters I’ve met and the friendships that I’ve developed along the way, telling stories about them, their care and devotion to their animals.”
Having a yarn over a cup of tea with his clients was an important part of the job, he said.
“It’s often when the real problems and issues on farms present themselves.
Rural vet Rory Dean with his dogs.
“The sick calves that the vet might have been seeing might be a result of a staff shortage, which is due to a member of the family being sick, and only by sitting down and listening and being sympathetic can you understand those things.”
Dean worked in a variety of jobs on farms in Scotland as a teenager, “tootling around in my little white van”, and was drawn to New Zealand after graduating from vet school, working on a large dairy farm in Canterbury.
He returned to the UK, mostly testing for tuberculosis on farms in southern England, but it wasn’t long before he was back in New Zealand.
He describes his move to Northland as the best he has made.
“There’s a particular spot I always make sure I stop at when I’m driving around, actually overlooking the harbour, and I take a moment and get out of the car with my dogs and just really take it in and feel very lucky to be in the job.”
