NOMV creates Cyberbullying Task Force after MVMC incident

Photo courtesy of Not One More Vet and Maine Veterinary Medical Center.

Not One More Vet (NOMV) aims to assist and protect the mental wellbeing of all veterinary professionals. Its mission is to transform the industry through evidence-based peer support, mentorship, financial support, education, and awareness. In an organizational release,¹ NOMV announced its partnership with Maine Veterinary Medical Center (MVMC) to create a resource for veterinary clinics that find themselves in a position where their mental health and well-being is threatened.

This partnership comes after an incident in which MVMC received thousands of death threats over a puppy’s surrender to its facility. The news story went viral and inaccurate information caused people to attack the Maine Veterinary Medical Center and jam the building’s phoneline with threats of violence.

MVMC had police stationed outside of the building due to the amount and severity of the threats received. The veterinary center scheduled a meeting with NOMV to create industry wide cyberbullying resources to help any other clinic that finds itself in this position.

Meghan Vaught, DVM, DACVECC, from MVMC shared with NOMV, “I am someone who needs to transform this experience into something positive, which is our next mission.”¹

MVMC is a member of Rarebreed Veterinary Partners and Sarah Mills, Rarebreed’s senior director of marketing & communications, spoke to NOMV about the influx of support from the veterinary community and felt NOMV would be a perfect collaborator to develop a cyberbullying resource for the veterinary profession. The result of this initial conversation was a proposal for the NOMV Cyberbullying Task Force.¹

NOMV is now fundraising to move their proposal forward. Individuals and organizations interested in financially supporting the Cyberbullying Task Force are encouraged to donate to NOMV via PayPal or mailed checks. The task force also requires volunteer people power and NOMV is requesting those with experience in public relations, veterinary cyberbullying, medical record privacy/ethics and laws, mental health, fundraising, reputation management, and/or marketing to apply via Idealist.

Reference

NOMV and MVMC join forces to confront cyberbullying. News release. Not One More Vet. Published July 8, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.nomv.org/2022/07/15/nomv-cyberbullying-task-force/