When Leisa Brown set up the Guyra District Veterinary Services 10 years ago this month, there was only herself and one nurse. A decade later, the practice now has five vets and three support staff.
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"We wouldn't have grown to what we are without local support," Leisa said, thanking the Guyra community.
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Leisa set up the practice in rented premises in Ollera Street in 2009. She had worked as a vet at the Armidale practice branch in Guyra; moved to Gundawindi for a year; then returned to Guyra with her husband, a farmer. The practice moved to its current home, 207 Falconer Street, in early 2014.
A given week might see Leisa and fellow vets Ainslie Land, Nigel Scott, Jo Ward, and Tracy Gowen deal with anything from malignant tumors and brucellosis to incontinent dogs.
"I've been a vet for 13 years," Leisa said, "and there are still cases all the time that stump us, things that we've never seen before. That's what we all love about our jobs."
Half of their work is farm-based; half with domestic pets. Leisa enjoys the cattle side both from a veterinary and a farm management perspective. "It makes me feel like I can be part of the production system, and not just put out fires!"
Her own pets come to the surgery - as visitors, not patients. Her blue cattle dog Dave, "a bit of a clinic icon", always goes to work with her, while her greyhound acts as a blood donor. Her husband has six work dogs, cattle, and sheep on their property.
The vets prefer to see small animals at the surgery, because they have access to equipment, including digital X-rays, in-house blood machines, and dental gear. The practice pays 'house calls' for larger animals; little old ladies who don't drive; and poddy lambs with issues. They also euthanise pets in their homes.
The vets also pride themselves on providing an after-hours service; someone is on call 24/7. In city areas, Leisa said, vets can refer animals to emergency services, but in rural areas, there's no option.
"Working in an area like this, and not having access to emergency services and specialists, we get to keep those cases here and follow them through," Leisa said. "If we worked in a city, anything too hard we'd send on to a specialist. We get that opportunity every day."
Leisa hopes to employ another vet, and ultimately have three vets on full-time; at the moment, only she is full-time.
She also plans to add a dedicated grooming room and laboratory, and increase kennel space in the next year.