A veterinary doctor recently committed suicide with drugs used to euthanise pets after he became distressed by unnecessary requests made by wealthy customers to put their pets down rather than paying to treat them.

The doctor was identified as 35-year-old Dr John Ellis.

According to reports, the doctor was upset that people with new cars did not pay to help their animals.

Before his death, Dr Ellis told his mother clients who couldn’t afford to pay for treatment often brought their pets in too late for anything to be done, reported Metro.

According to reports, Tina Ellis, the doctor's mother, told an inquest into her son’s death that he found this ‘destroying’.

Tina Ellis told the hearing that her son told her as quoted by Metro: "Owners are leaving it too late to come in, they weren’t seeking help early enough for things that could have been quite simple."

"He was finding that destroying," she added.

John Ellis was working as a resident with Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists at the time of his death.

Recording a verdict of suicide Simon Burge, assistant coroner for Hampshire, told Metro that Dr Ellis’s death was ‘a huge waste of a talented life’.

Burge said: "It’s a matter of great regret to the family and all his friends that he should have rashly, unnecessarily made the decision that he did."