The most common type of online abuse reported by vets was online abuse (90 per cent).

Guide provides support on unfair online reviews.

A new resource produced by the BVA aims to protect veterinary teams from the impact of abusive online reviews.

'How to manage unfair and abusive reviews online', provides support for veterinary professionals and workplaces who are the target of online harassment, trolling and unfair reviews.

It follows the release of the Voice of the Veterinary Profession 2021 statistics – which revealed that half of veterinary surgeons working in clinical practice had recently experienced online abuse.

Malcolm Morley, BVA president, said: “The vast majority of clients are hugely appreciative of the care they receive from their vet teams, resulting in thousands of positive reviews every year. 

“While we recognise not every client will have a positive experience and may wish to provide critical feedback, a small number are posting deliberately abusive or unfair reviews. This is unacceptable and can have a hugely negative impact on individual veterinary professionals and the wider team. 

“Protecting the wellbeing of veterinary teams remains a top priority for BVA and this new resource will help vet teams to take practical steps to limit the impact of this type of abuse.”

The guide is a new addition to the Respect Your Vet Team toolkit, a range of resources exclusively available for BVA members to download.