The phone rarely stops ringing. Here, it is neither the firefighters nor the Samu but VetaDom, the equivalent of SOS Doctors for animals. Pierre Fabing has been working there in the Paris branch since 2015 as an emergency veterinarian. For a very lively daily life, “extraordinary” according to him, and of which the native of Moselle does not complain. He appreciates when the owners of his patients tell him that they have the chance to practice “the best job in the world”. The doctor wanted to tell the backstage in You called the vetwhich comes out this Wednesday, April 12 (Albin Michel, 264 pages, 19.90 euros).
How is your job extraordinary on a daily basis?
Because I’m always in a rush and I never really know what’s going to happen. Pet owners call us every day with a reason: for their cat who possibly vomited. But behind that, we can find ourselves in an unexpected situation. Depending on where you are, but also on the human relationships that can be formed. And then there, we can fall into the extraordinary.
This is precisely what you tell in your book, all these adventures…
Again, these are not all my consultations. But it’s quite common that I’m left with a little story at the end that I’ll remember for years. If I had to remember one? I would say the end of life. I remember one case where I went to see an animal that belonged to a little girl who had died of cancer. Just talking regarding it gives me chills. These are very hard times, it affects us emotionally. Conversely, when we manage to save an animal from a catastrophic situation, we experience an incredible moment. We feel all powerful.
In your first story, you come close to dropping your finger because of a pussy that violently kills you…
In general, the animals are not happy to see me. So we can have small reactions which are sometimes not the ones we expect. But real injuries, I had two. When I almost had surgery on my finger, I had a little lack of control. The second time, when I was bitten by a dog, I had nothing to do with it. It was the owner who let go of his animal and he planted a fang next to my knee. These are small accidents.
Haven’t you been scared since?
No, because uncooperative animals are part of our daily lives. It is up to us to take the necessary measures. The dog that got loose on me was really human stupidity. The owner had a dog that might be considered a weapon and he did not hold his animal. Yes, I was scared that day but bad dogs don’t exist. The dog is the owner who will make him mean.
You write “We care for the animals as much as their owners”. What do you mean ?
The bond between people and their animals is so strong today that when we go to treat their animal, we are in a way going to treat the owner. By intervening at home, we are confronted with many things. Especially to single people, a little isolated. Our passage generally does them a lot of good, if only for the little human contact. I always think back to this period of Covid-19, when we were the only people people sometimes saw for two months…
Your job is a lot of adventures and as many human encounters…
I meet fantastic people every day. We can go everywhere. We go as much to the somewhat underprivileged suburbs as to luxurious apartments in the 16th arrondissement. And all these people have something to tell us. Me, I particularly like the elderly who have all this life behind them and who only ask to share it. I always take ten minutes at the end of the consultations, if I have the time of course, to discuss and feed on this experience.
Let’s go back to the beginning: why did you choose this job as an emergency physician?
I was rural when I started being a veterinarian, so I went to treat the cows on the farms. Today, I still do but in town because the sector of intervention is very large. We see all kinds of situations. We have this fireman’s hat, we’re here to save the animals. This adrenaline makes me passionate regarding this exercise. It allows me to flourish, to find meaning in what I do. People always welcome you and thank you, there is a real gratification.
Is it harder than staying in the office and going through consultations?
There are vets who would not see themselves in my place. They ask me how I can go to people’s homes and do all this in their homes. I tell them that I mightn’t do anything else. I work with the means at hand, that is to say 20 to 35 kilos of equipment with me. It forces you to step out of your comfort zone. The social side is also more marked because I think people are more open to us. Out of ten veterinarians, I would say that only one is an emergency doctor today, even if we do everything in rural areas. The services dedicated to emergencies are beginning to settle all over France, to be a profession in its own right.
Demand must be high…
Yes, huge, I realize that I who work mostly at night. Afterwards, not all calls trigger a consultation, only regarding 15%. The rest is medical advice and I’m happy to answer. People don’t call for nothing, they are worried regarding their animal and need the advice of a professional.
What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to talk regarding all my stories. We are often told that we do “the best job in the world” and I wanted to talk regarding it. But I would add that we are also confronted with death, that we give it frequently. And in the emergencies, there is an emotional part, a stress, without forgetting an increasing requirement on the part of the owners. We are the healthcare profession with the highest suicide rate. This is also one of the themes of the book.
Do you plan to continue this profession for a long time?
For now, I can’t see myself doing anything else. There will be more stories to tell, that’s for sure.