I was born in Australia in 1978, and at less than a year old migrated to Auckland, New Zealand. I then moved regularly between the two countries until 2003, when I moved here permanently to marry Dave and set some permanent roots.
Together we have four beautiful children, Mitch, Tayla, Jordan, and Jake and in this past December we became first time grandparents to a sweet baby boy Ari.
My bedroom as a child was like a real-life zoo – containers filled with injured snails and caterpillars, most with band aids on, piled up in my room. It wasn’t unusual for a wild bird or two to be zooming around either. Mum says she never knew what to expect when she opened my bedroom door from one day to the next.
Back in 1989, I was RSPCA’s youngest ever foster carer, looking after an orphaned nest of baby crows. I was 11 years old at the time and thought I had won the lottery.
My obsession for all creatures has never left. I have always had a furry friend, whether it be a dog, cat, bird, rabbit, alpaca, most of whom were rescues and not quite right. I love the not quite right ones the best.
My passion is in animal welfare and I spent many years in that side of the animal world. 5 years of that time was in an animal shelter, and then an animal shelter vet clinic. It was during this time I decided to obtain my dog obedience certificate. Working with many unpredictable and very sad broken dogs was an eye opener for me. I then moved to a local pound, where I was in an animal attendant/pound supervisor role for some time. I ran Boxer Rescue Victoria for 3 years, rescuing, rehabilitating and then re-homing Boxer dogs throughout Victoria. I also volunteered at Aware Wildlife in my spare time with my son Jordan, who has gone on to become a vet nurse. We are passionate about our beautiful Australian wildlife.
FUN FACT: Just before I migrated to Australia permanently, I was in the middle of my midwifery course at university and in 2001 delivered 21 babies.
In my spare time I love to hang out at home with my British Bulldog Gus, Boxer Dog Rosie, and our noisy conure, Gonzo. Gonzo is known to use some very choice words at time, so we must be very careful with what we say around him. He is very much a parrot in that way, repeating anything he hears.
My husband and I enjoy renovating our home so put a lot of thought and love into those projects. We do all the work ourselves, although I have been banned form using any power tools from now on.
I am thoroughly enjoying being back in the animal world now after 10 years of owning my own business. Lynbrook Vet is a wonderful, positive environment to work in, and I am truly enjoying meeting you all and getting to know your fur babies.
