Dr Chris Brown targets US audience in new TV series Vet Gone Wild
HE’S Australia’s most famous veterinarian but after leaving Bondi Vet, Dr Chris Brown is looking for greener pastures overseas, dealing with more exotic animals in the wild.
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HE’S Australia’s most famous vet — known as TV’s original Bondi Vet as well as for his adrenaline-chasing antics on reality survival show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! So it may come as a surprise that Dr Chris Brown’s favourite animal — the one that sparked his love of veterinary science — is the humble cow.
Growing up in Newcastle, he spent weekends and school holidays at the family’s farm in Stroud, in the Hunter Valley.
As a teenager he was often found tending his pet jersey named Daisy, or showing cows — Akubra hat, white coat and all — at country shows.
“It was my dream as a kid to be a dairy farmer, I’ve always had that connection,” he tells BW Magazine.
“I think it’s because they are so much bigger than we are.
“They’re so powerful and strong, but there’s this calmness and gentleness to them. I think we all need to discover our inner cow.”
It’s a passion he’s managed to work into this Friday’s episode of The Living Room, travelling to a cattle station outside Townsville to break the bad news to Texas longhorn steer JR, that his 3m-long horns no longer hold the Guinness World Record.
“I’m always on the lookout for interesting animal stories,” he says.
“His owners were what you’d least expect in many respects. Michael Bethel looks like someone straight out of Texas but he couldn’t be more Australia, he has the classic Queensland drawl. He was a lot of fun and absolutely adores his animals.”
Dr Brown has spent the past six months filming the new series Vet Gone Wild, due to air in the US this month, travelling to eight countries to treat exotic animals.
“They were big, small, ferocious, calm,” he says.
“It’s the craziest work I’ve ever done. I’ve been off all over the world — Namibia, South Africa, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Thailand — with my little vet bag doing my best to help these animals.
“We’d get calls to treat a sloth and that’s fine … but you have to get to the sloth first.
“The adventure in treating the animal is nothing compared with actually getting there. We took light planes, helicopters, boats, trains, hitched rides, anything to get to these animals. It was a hell of a challenge!”
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