Arabian mare Essie was selling earlier than expected and co-owner Siri Ingebrigtsen was out of town on business. Left to deal with the sudden turn of events was 19-year-old student Arianne Fournier, who was on duty just in case. But he had the guidance and support of veterinarian Andrea Kelly, who, via Facetime, guided Fournier to the successful delivery of healthy twin foals. “I don’t think I would be as calm (without her),” Fournier recalled. Essie, a 10-year-old Arabian, and her foals, Blaze and Star. (Olivier Plante/CBC) Kelly came out the next day, and in the days and weeks after, to check on — and cuddle — foals Star and Blaze. July 28 was the last time people at the farm saw Kelly. The 36-year-old committed suicide three days later. “A friend called me,” Ingebridgetsen recalls. “He said ‘maybe you should sit down’ and told me what had happened.” “It was so surreal. You don’t expect these things… You always think ‘what could we have done differently as a community to prevent this?’ and what can we do otherwise (so) we don’t lose another vet like this?” said Ingebrigtsen, who knew another vet who died by suicide. Since Kelly’s death, the Pontiac and Ottawa equine community has rallied to highlight her impact as a veterinarian, community member and friend. Some customers wrote tributes online, others shared memories of their friendship with her. A friend dedicated a field of sunflowers to Kelly. Another entered her horse at Rideau-Carleton Raceway on August 11 and took the winning title in honor of Kelly and her family. The winning horse, Erica’s shadow, even ran in a purple bib, Kelly’s favorite color. Kelly’s fiance Marc Alarie and her sister Erin stand outside the vet’s clinic in Kemptville, Ont. Clients and friends decorated the clinic gates with flowers after news of her death. (Rachel Watts/CBC) Kelly’s sister Erin says she is touched by all the tributes. “I’ve heard so many stories over the last few weeks about how generous she was with her time. She was never too busy to answer a call. She was never too busy to go out and check on someone,” said Erin Kelly . “She always watched her when she said she was going. I heard stories about how kind, tender and caring she was in an animal’s last minutes,” he said. The community sharing their stories with Kelly’s family “has really helped us through this difficult time.” Andrea Kelly was one of the few veterinarians in the Ottawa area who was also licensed to treat animals in Quebec. (Submitted by Marc Alarie) Andrea Kelly was unusual in that she was a veterinarian based in Ottawa and also licensed to practice in Quebec. She owned the Ottawa Valley Large Animal Clinic and served nearly 600 clients in the surrounding Pontiac and Ottawa area.
“A strong and determined person”
Erin Kelly remembers her younger sister as a “bright, smiling little kid” who fell in love with horses and was determined to become a veterinarian. Purchased Ottawa Valley Large Animal Clinic in 2018. Five years before that, in 2013, she met Marc Alarie, who became her fiancé. Alarie has a vivid memory of running into Kelly at a grocery store shortly after their first date. “She was wearing her jumpsuit, she had stains on her, her hair was everywhere and she smelled like a barn, so she was a little shy,” Alarie said with a laugh. “But when I saw her she was still beautiful and real.” In the years that followed, Alarie and Kelly lived in a house in Kemptville and built a life together with their horses, cats and dog. Alarie remembers how Kelly went about her work “seriously and with compassion.” He came home one time to find a goat being kept there for some special medical care. Further afield, Quebec horse owners were happy to have Kelly as a resource. “He quickly started coming to our area because he was licensed to come to Quebec, which a lot of the vets in Ontario are not,” said Stephanie Sitzberger, owner of Gatineau Farm. “We were able to develop a really nice relationship with her.” He said Kelly was “always smiling, no matter what day it was.” Stephanie Sitzberger remembers Kelly as a smiling, friendly presence around the horses. (Rachel Watts/CBC) But as Siri Ingebrigtsen looks back at all the patients under Kelly’s care in Quebec and Ontario, she says the vet’s job must have been stressful. “I don’t know how any of them do it honestly, especially when they’re on their own, because there’s no one to help you when you have the whole weekend on your hands,” Ingebrigtsen said. “But he never really left it when he came.” Erin Kelly says her sister always put the customers first and wasn’t “one to leave animals unattended,” even when it might have affected her. “Andrea was a strong and determined person … but being on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week is demanding,” he said. Erin says a shortage of vets and the departure of two employees left her sister almost alone to handle a heavy client load. “She ended up taking a lot of it on herself so that the clinic would survive and that those 600 clients would be cared for,” Erin said. Experts say the life of a vet, with its particular stressors, is not easy and the profession has high suicide rates. However, suicide is rarely caused by any single factor, experts also say. Andrea Kelly developed a love for horses and set her sights on becoming a veterinarian early in life. Customers say she was gifted when it came to dealing with large animals. (Submitted by Erin Kelly and Marc Alarie)
High suicide rates among vets
After Kelly’s death, her family asked for donations to be sent Not another vet(NOMV) a US-based non-profit organization that aims to promote wellness, mental health and suicide reduction among veterinary professionals. Long work hours, client-veterinarian boundaries and stress all play into increased suicide rates among veterinarians, says NOMV Vice President Caitlin Furlong, who works at an equine veterinarian clinic in New Jersey. He said one in six vets in the US has considered suicide at some point in their career and that “veterinary professionals are at greater risk than the general public.” Here in Canada, the statistics are just as alarming. About 26 per cent of Canadian vets have experienced suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months. study published in 2020 by researchers at The Ontario Veterinary College. The study, which was completed by 1,403 Canadian vets, found that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts was significantly higher than the general population and compared to male vets, female vets experienced “significantly higher” rates of stress and burnout. “We take it very seriously,” said Marie Archambault, vice-chancellor for academic and student affairs at the Université de Montréal veterinary school in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.. Over the past two years, welcome meetings for new students have changed to reflect this concern. Students are now being provided with wellness resources through a new course offered by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges. “We really encourage our students to do (this),” Archambault said. “And we know that vets are more than twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts compared to Canadians.” Andrea Goffart says horses are sensitive creatures for their size and owners sometimes blame a vet when something goes wrong. (Rachel Watts/CBC) Equine and large animal veterinarians are especially susceptible, says Aja Harvey, Furlong’s colleague and an equine veterinarian who specializes in internal medicine. “I think what really separates large animal veterinary medicine from small animal (medicine) is the number of hours we have to put in,” Harvey said. While small animal veterinarians typically work structured clinical hours with emergency clinics that handle overflow, Harvey says equine veterinarians often work 10-12 hour days, as well as night and weekend emergency work. Andrea Goffart, a customer of Kelly’s who owns property in Quyon, Que., says customers can also add a level of stress to vets. “Horses are an interesting animal because they’re not really animals and they’re not really pets,” Goffart said. “People love their horses so much and if something goes wrong there’s a lot of anger directed at vets.” Goffart says not all clients understand the pressures vets feel, especially when they are dedicated to their work and in high demand due to the vet shortage. “They don’t want to say to that owner, ‘sorry I can’t see your horse,’” Goffart said. “I think somebody who gives and gives and gives, at some point they’re going to burn out.” The stables at the large animal clinic are empty, and Kelly’s fiance and her sister have asked that donations be sent to a nonprofit that promotes vet wellness.
“I wish he knew how many people he touched”
Kelly’s family held a memorial service at her veterinary clinic, and her fiance says about 250 people came out to remember her. Alari was moved to see the impact it had on the community. “The messages online and the people who came yesterday, the cards, the flowers we received from customers, from friends … If only she knew how many people she touched and how many loved her and cared for her,” Alarie said. “She meant a lot to us and we will make sure to remember her forever.” As for Ingebrigtsen, every time she looks at the foals Kelly helped give to Facetime, she feels a pang. “It’s been a tough couple of weeks, but at the same time we’re celebrating who she was, right. And these guys will always remind us of that,” Ingebrigtsen said. If you or someone who…
