I Often Get Asked How Did I Start

I often get asked how did I start. Let’s go back in time when there were no mobile or email, shops shut early on Saturdays and mixed tapes were all the rage.

I often get asked how did I start. Let’s go back in time when there were no mobile or email, shops shut early on Saturdays and mixed tapes were all the rage. I spent my school holidays on my relatives’ dairy farms in Western Victoria. I remember buying my first calf at the market at 12 years old, her name was … Midnight, a black Angus. We did not have a trailer so it travelled in the car with us. She died of old age years later. From there I was hooked, totally animal crazy. A grand statement at 14, I was going to be a vet or dairy farmer. Early mornings were not my thing so vet it was, the dream had started.

It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago I was starting my first job as a cattle vet in Tassie. Lot’s have changed since those halcyon days of driving around the Tasmanian countryside in my clapped out Nissan station wagon.

I am amazed with the advances in veterinary medicine. I just have to look at our practice. Unimaginable a short time ago, who would have thought we would have state of the art ultrasound facilities and digital x-rays that allows us to get answers straight away or an advanced pathology lab on site that delivers blood test results in minutes?

What drives me? For me, it all comes back to one thing, doing what’s right for our pets. I firmly believe we are their voices and they deserve to be heard. These new advances allow us to keep our pets healthier for longer. What better job.

I count myself fortunate, that almost three decades later I have the same passion as when I started. It’s the relationships that matter. I am now seeing family’s grow up with their pets. It’s the greatest privilege to help in that journey.