The Victorian man caring for all creatures great and small
Matthew Glascott’s journey to wildlife warrior began at age three. Here he reveals how he almost became a cop before he made it his mission to take Victoria’s neglected and unwanted animals under his wing.
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Penny the ostrich pecks curiously at Matty Glascott’s jacket buttons as the animal sanctuary owner explains a nearby sign warning of a “saltwater crocodile on premises”.
“We had two big ones; they’re off site at the moment,” Glascott said.
He investigated housing a male croc on his land next to a pond, surrounded by a pool fence, but costs became a problem.
“He was pretty friendly, he was fine; but obviously he’s a crocodile,” Glascott said in his laconic Aussie drawl.
The 31-year-old owner of Matty’s Sanctuary watches Alice the camel stride over for a nuzzle, and marvels at the dinosaur-like feet of Penny who remains transfixed by his jacket buttons, despite the 800kg beast approaching.
Glascott gives the impression that if a real dinosaur was discovered in the wild, he would be the first one to offer it shelter.
His love for all animals, great or small, is on show at Matty’s Sanctuary, which now covers every inch of his 35 acre property in central Victoria.
Glascott sat down with Matt Johnston for the Herald Sun’s Big V Interview to discuss where his animal obsession began, a sliding doors moment that almost made him a police officer, and a near-death motocross experience.
‘Everything was a pet’
Glascott has been on a path to being a wildlife warrior since his parents sat him on a horse at the age of three.
“My parents always had animals growing up,” he says.
“They’re just two properties down, so I’ve lived here my whole life, and my sister used to live next door.”
The original farm, still owned by his parents Lisa and Michael, was a tree-change moment for the family.
Michael, a chef who later worked on the railways, had met Lisa, a waitress who was later a nurse, at a restaurant in suburban Melbourne.
They moved to Heathcote and then to Sedgwick – about 20 minutes south of Bendigo – for a hobby farm lifestyle.
“They used to do a bit of cropping but they’re pretty much just like me, loved animals, and everything was a pet,” he said.
“That’s how I sort of started; a few pigs, a goat, then found myself going to abattoirs and rescuing animals who had fallen off trucks.”
Animals remained a preoccupation while he studied at Catholic College Bendigo, which he “didn’t really have much interest in”.
As a teenager he developed a passion for motocross and rode competitively until he was 21 years old.
“Then I had a very bad crash. I broke my knee in eight spots and my collarbone in three spots,” he said.
“We used to have a big motocross track and a big freestyle ramp. We used to jump off, do all the tricks, I tried everything. One day, it was raining, I didn’t concentrate, and came up short.”
In hospital he had rods inserted to his knee and an array of “metalwork” in his collarbone which is still there.
The incident forced him off work for six months but provided an insight into his tenacity.
“I went back to racing, I still did it all, I was still stupid,” he said dryly.
After leaving school Glascott did a diploma in conservation of land management, which nurtured his love of nature.
He eventually quit competitions when constant injuries caused him to miss too many shifts at the apple orchard, where he was working towards a property deposit.
Glascott said he worked multiple jobs – and up to 15 hours a day – to buy his land, allowing him to build a haven for rescued animals.
Pet pigs and the police academy
Two farmyard animals named Barry and Squeak deserve some credit for getting Matty’s Sanctuary off the ground.
“I got a pet sheep, Barry, and a goat, Squeak, given to me when I was about 23 or 24,” he said.
“I was just coming out of that stage of partying, motorbikes, doing that sort of stuff, and it just sparked an interest.”
His life had come to a crossroads where a different career beckoned.
Land management jobs were hard to find following graduation, so Glascott applied to join Victoria Police and went through the physical exams.
As the Academy process was coming to a head, Glascott and his father had an opportunity to lease a pub in the tiny town of Tylden Junction, not far from Woodend.
They took the lease and Glascott ran the kitchen – he was a trained chef – while his father ran the bar.
“A lot of people always ask me, ‘do you think that was a mistake, should you have gone into the Academy and made a career as a police officer?’,” he said.
“I don’t think I would have found myself into this (sanctuary) if I had, because it was a placement down in Melbourne for two or three years before you could transfer to a country town.
“It would have taken me a whole different avenue.”
Prior to getting the land he craved, Glascott said he had about 45 animals at his parents’ house, including about 20 pigs that were “the most neglected sort of animal”.
“Dad let me use so much of the property for pigs, then we started to get horses, donkeys, some sheep and goats,” he said.
“But it was hard to take the next step without being on my own property.”
He gesticulates at the sweeping paddocks around him, separated by secure fencing.
“I just wanted to go like this; full blown crazy, do what I want, build the biggest fences I wanted.”
Glascott pays tribute to his parents and long-serving volunteer, Kevin Cameron, for helping to turn the dream to reality by building infrastructure needed to house rescued animals.
“Prior to that … I’ve got some very good neighbours, that’s all I can say. They’ve been very patient,” he said.
“Once I got my own property, I’m a hard worker and always had good jobs, so once I had my own little set up, I just built things.
“Then if there was an animal that needed saving, I’d take it in.”
Camel rescues and head knocks
Matty’s Sanctuary officially opened in 2018, and Glascott said the support he received was “crazy”.
He learnt as he went, especially when more exotic animals arrived.
“I never hesitated when my first camel came along. That was one of the boys that’s still here; he’s huge, but I said ‘yep, we’ll pick it up tomorrow’,” he said.
“I didn’t know how much care they needed but quickly learnt how strong they are, you can see we’ve got the top and bottom electrics which have 12 or 15 volts now.
“Even to this day there’s not many other sanctuaries that have actually got camels.”
Glascott said he got advice from camel dairies, which are “fairly respectful” in how they treat animals and often try to home male camels.
“The camels gave us a bit of trouble for a while, but I was never one to give up and I was never going to,” he said.
“There’s a lot of camel trainers in Victoria who use different methods; my method was just love and affection, really.
“A lot of food, a lot of treats. See how quickly they calm down, they will sit down for a cuddle, you could climb all over them, there’s not a bad bone in their body.
“They can make great pets – very similar to horses in a lot of ways.”
Glascott’s love of the gentle giants transcends a near-death experience he had during a camel rescue two years ago.
Glascott was helping load some of the 150 animals adopted from a closing dairy farm into trucks when he slipped and fell.
“I got kicked as I fell which knocked me out, and then got trampled by who knows how many,” he said.
“Then the ambulance got stuck in a bog because it was winter.
“They eventually got me out and had CT scans at hospital, and I was later released. I got told to take it easy but I jumped straight back in and started loading them again.”
The incident raised a broader health concern, however.
Scans showed a build-up of fluid on the brain, which Glascott said was also an issue following his horror motocross fall.
“They will monitor the next few years to make sure it doesn’t increase,” he said.
“Boxers get it, basically anyone that takes hard hits. So they’re just going to monitor it; anyone who has concussions has to monitor it with scans and things.”
Glascott doesn’t linger on his own health, quickly shifting to the health of the camels and how good they are at weeding paddocks.
The “baby” of the property, Ava, soon wanders over with mum, Alice, not far behind.
“Alice came in during that big camel rescue, she was pregnant and had Ava here at the sanctuary,” he said.
“It was a pretty easy birth; straight up, drinking.”
Bigger is better
In a separate paddock, Rufus the water buffalo ambles past Bambi the deer, who Glascott introduces as a seven-year veteran of the sanctuary.
Blitzen, Cupid and Comet dart across green grass surrounded by 6-foot high fences, while Patrick the goat looks for a shoelace to munch.
It took time and experience for Glascott to work out which animals are best to cohabitate, and feeding time is now a well-oiled machine that keeps them all happy.
Volunteers help with the goats and sheep, but the bigger beasts are left to Glascott and Cameron, who is a former policeman trained to see when behaviour – even in animals – is about to change.
“With the sheep and goats it’s pretty safe. You get headbutted maybe, but the risk of something bad happening is very low,” he said.
“Being around larger animals, it’s having those switched-on people. They’re not your average household pet.”
Glascott has reduced the number of jobs he’s juggled in recent years, and now splits his time between the Bendigo Council’s animal welfare centre, and the sanctuary.
“I got to the stage where I needed more work-life balance, because I’d be working at nights, and Father’s Day, Christmas, AFL Grand Final are always your busiest days (in hospitality),” he said.
“I was chasing money for quite a while to get my passion set up. Now I’ve still got to work but not like I did – it would be good if interest rates dived a little bit but as long as I meet the bills every week it’s OK.”
Donations are critical to keep the sanctuary going, while support from corporate sponsors like Reid’s stockfeeds provides for hungry animals before rehoming.
“Vet’s aren’t cheap,” he said.
“There’s health checks, medications, rehabilitation, then out to adoption and that process. Very rarely is someone bringing in an animal which is 100 per cent fit and healthy and we can just adopt it out.”
When animals are up for adoption, the sanctuary puts a notice on Facebook, and applications are assessed alongside property checks.
“We do a lot of open days, education days, where we take a few animals from here,” he said.
“A lot of people don’t even know there are ostriches or camels in Australia.
“Every year, it’s just got bigger and bigger, different animals, improving the welfare of animals around the world.”
Q&A WITH MATTY GLASCOTT
First job and pay
Statewide Irrigation, $15 an hour
If you weren’t doing this job, what would you be doing?
Most likely police force or job that helps animals or people in someway
Five people you’d invite to a dinner party, dead or alive
Bon Jovi — loved his music growing up
Enrique Iglesias — loved his music growing up
Steve Irwin — changed the wildlife world and no one has managed to make the same impact to date
David Attenborough — done amazing work for animal welfare
Luke combs — favourite country singer
Book everyone should read
Won’t lie, I’ve barely ever read a book, it has to be a documentary or movie to spark my interest
If you could live anywhere in the world besides here, where would it be?
Probably a tropical island somewhere, somewhere relaxing and peaceful
First concert, dream concert (dead or alive)
First – Bon Jovi
Dream – Bon Jovi in the 80s
Most inspirational living person
My parents
First car, current car, dream car
Hyundai, Navara Ute, f250
One thing people didn’t know about you/hidden talent
Good at motocross and public speaking — even though I pretend I can’t do it
Best and worst birthday present you’ve ever received
Best – A motorbike at Christmas. Never really had a bad gift haha
Rainy day TV binge
Lost
Song you get pumped up to
Anything country
Death row last meal
Pasta
Biggest career regret
Been lucky so far and don’t regret any career decisions
Best piece of advice you’ve received
Work hard and you can achieve anything
This year I’m most looking forward to …
Continuing my work and going on a well-deserved holiday
The one thing I’d love to change about Victoria/Victorians
Awareness to animal cruelty
The one thing I love the most about Victoria/Victorians
The laid-back atmosphere in my country area
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