Sunshine Coast animal workers most loved by community
Whether it be clipping a canine coat into a fabulous ‘do or curing a sick monkey, these vets, doggie day cares and other animal helpers have been recognised as the region’s best.
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The Sunshine Coast community’s treasured animal companions deserve love and care, whether it be pampering at a dog wash or rushing them to a vet in their times of need.
That’s where the region’s hardworking animal workers step in.
The Sunshine Coast Daily asked the community to give a shout out to an animal worker and more than 90 vets, trainers, doggie day cares and more were thanked.
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These are the animal workers across the Sunshine Coast who have been thanked for their hard work:
Doggie Adventure Playhouse
Born and bred on the Sunshine Coast and with a great love for animals, Toni Pettigrew traded a corporate career to open Doggie Adventure Playhouse in 2018.
Ms Pettigrew discovered a gap in doggie day cares on the Sunshine Coast while she was researching what she could do in the industry
“I saw a need in the market for some high-calibre place to look after dogs,” Ms Pettigrew said.
After 12 months of research and observing other day cares across Australia on top of nine months of council approval, her business opened at Kayleigh Dr, Buderim.
She now has a team of 22 daycare attendants.
Ms Pettigrew said it makes her day knowing the community appreciates the business and she thanked everyone for their support.
“One of our key pillars is to nurture doggie nature,” Ms Pettigrew said.
“When you watch a dog reconnect to their true nature of play and fun, because they’ve forgotten, it’s one of those great moments.
“You know the dog is living a full, happy life.”
She said it felt rewarding in itself to know people value the time their dogs can spend at her playhouse.
“When the dogs come in the morning, they literally drag their owners across the car park, can’t wait to get in here,” she said.
Penny Brischke, Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge
Penny Brischke has been volunteering at Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge since 2006, making it her 17th year on the job.
She had moved to work as a full-time nurse for the Caloundra emergency apartment in her 30s and saw an advertisement calling for shelter volunteers in the newspaper.
Ms Brischke said she was immediately “hooked”.
“I just get such satisfaction out of helping animals, and the people in turn, and being able to give back in the community,” Ms Brischke said.
“It’s beautiful to see the change in the animals once they come out of the shelter and into a loving home.”
Ms Brischke said she loves what the “amazing organisation” and its team do.
“I think nothing is achievable as one person – it’s all about our big SCARs team,” she said.
“You don’t do it for accolades, you do it to make a difference.”
During her time at the shelter, she has adopted four dogs and currently has two dogs at home.
Her dream would be for every cat and dog welcomed at the shelter to be adopted by loving families within a few short months.
Nicklin Way Veterinary Surgery
Doctors Hazel and Doug Gray bought the clinic in 2005 from former owner Dr Chris Ryan shortly after moving to the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Gray said the business was opened in a small shop front by Dr Ryan more than 30 years ago.
The couple had originally wanted to work outdoors, visiting farms to care for livestock and horses, Mr Gray said.
“I quickly switched to companion animals because there is so much variety in a day’s work, and I love the reward of fixing an animal and the happiness that brings their owners,” he said.
It felt “amazing” knowing the community recognised their hard work, Mr Gray said.
“Veterinary science can be a very tough profession when patients pass away despite our best efforts,” he said.
“Our staff work very hard for long hours and always put our clients and patients first. So it means a lot to know we are appreciated.”
Their craziest experience involved a monkey named Rhesus Macaque with tick paralysis who received treatment on Christmas Day.
“He was so sweet he would hold our hands during his treatment, but the next day when he was feeling better he was ready to fight us,” he said.
The best experience for the team at the Nicklin Way was when Bondi Vet visited to film a few episodes.
Currimundi Veterinary Surgery
The Currimundi Veterinary Surgery was bought by Sue Botha, her husband Retief and another vet in 2017 when the business had collapsed into liquidation.
Ms Botha said she knew she wanted to be a veterinary nurse since she was 13 years old, and started as a trainee nurse in London at the age of 16.
From 2004, alongside her husband Dr Retief Botha, they owned and managed a vet in Maroochydore for 10 years.
“Every single day we make a difference, not only to the animals’ lives, but to their owners lives too,” she said.
“I love the unconditional trust from the animals and, of course, the reward is seeing them get well and recover and come back to visit us with a wagging tail.”
Having a “huge responsibility to their community,” Ms Botha said they are “forever grateful” for the trust and support they have been shown.
“We are one of the few remaining family-owned clinics on the Sunshine Coast, and so having our community support us in turn enables us to provide a valuable and much needed local service here on the coast,” she said.
Mr Botha’s craziest experience was during his university training in South Africa – his work with the wildlife included taking blood samples from African buffalos and tagging lions.
Miss Piggy’s Guinea Pig Lair Inc
Beth Atkins shares her expertise of these small critters through her dedicated work at her guinea pig shelter.
Ms Atkins said her shelter of 14 years started when she cared for her niece‘s guinea pig while she was away, and ended up keeping the pet.
Word spread quickly and Ms Atkins took on more guinea pigs.
In 2018, she opened a purpose-built shelter at Eudlo to keep up with demand for rescues, surrenders and holiday boarding.
Ms Atkins said Miss Piggy’s Guinea Pig Lair was the Sunshine Coast’s only registered guinea pig shelter.
“Many surrenders and rescues arrive in a deplorable state – you cannot say ‘no’ to these sweet faces, especially when they are in need of help,” Ms Atkins said
She also hosts shelter tours to help prospective pet owners understand more about guinea pigs.
“It’s a lot of work, so to have members of the community appreciating what I am trying to accomplish is amazing,” she said.
In her work running a shelter, Ms Atkins had become more aware of the need for rescue homes – she also cares for her own rescue cat and eight chickens at home.
The shelter recently opened Cavy Beans Cafe in order to raise funds for their rescue animals.
Maleny Veterinary Services
Dr Debbie Thorne is the current owner of Maleny Veterinary Services.
Working in mixed practice, she said they can never know what will happen any given day.
“We get to be GPs and surgeons for lots of different species,” Ms Thorne said.
“I adore our team – each of those humans are thoroughly capable and compassionate down to their DNA.”
Ms Thorne said it was humbling to hear about the feedback from their “critter-families”.
“There are days that we forget that it’s supposed to be ‘work’.”
“Our clients become part of our extended family.”
Operating as a mixed practice veterinarian, Ms Thorne has a number of wild stories to tell, from endoscoping a fish to helping a paralysed tiger.
She even removed a Kinder Surprise egg from a dog’s intestines, and watched one of her nurses put the toy together as they stitched up the pet.
Grubby Paws Dog Wash
Grubby Paws Dog Wash owner Mark Wyatt has been running his business for about half his life, having started in Brisbane more than 30 years ago and moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2011.
In his time at Brisbane, Mr Wyatt said he even regularly washed some former Brisbane Broncos players’ furry companions.
He adores spending time with the dogs as much as he loves hearing the different stories his clients have to tell and working out in the open.
His secret to success is simply turning up, being reliable and doing the right thing, he said.
Vets and animal hospitals
Althea, Chelsey, Sofie and Mel from Landsborough and Glass House Mountains Vet Surgeries
Beerwah Veterinary Surgery
Dr Garry Bright from Maple Street Vet
Dr Brett Stone at Palmwoods Veterinary Clinic
Dr Claire McCallum from Mountain Creek Veterinary Clinic
Maleny Veterinary Services
Nicklin Way Veterinary Surgery
Dr Retief Botha and nurse Sue Botha from Currimundi Veterinary Surgery
Kenilworth Veterinary Surgery
Dr Craig Stanghon and Dr Julie Kemp from Chancellor Park Veterinary Surgery
Noosa Village Vet
Hinterland Equine Veterinary Services
Animal Emergency Service Tanawha
Jackie Campbell and the team from Sunset Vets, Maroochydore
Dr Mark McGinley from Battery Hill Veterinary Clinic
Dr Patrick Jones and Dr Sasha Miles from The Unusual Pet Vets Sunshine Coast
Peregian Springs Veterinary Surgery
Geeta, recently retired vet from Buderim Veterinary Surgery
Dr Amy Lynam and the team from Bli Bli Veterinary Surgery
Kenilworth Vet’s Anstey
C-j Jayne from Maroochy District Animal Hospital
Cooroy Veterinary Surgery
Dr Matt from Blanck Street Veterinary Surgery
Dr Brooke from Greencross Vets Maroochydore
Candice from Aura Veterinary Hospital
North Coast Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital
Dr Kaori Kanemitsu from KK’s Holistic Veterinary Service
Coolum Veterinary Surgery
Sunshine Coast Equine Veterinary Clinic
Dog day cares and grooming
Toni Pettigrew and the team at Doggie Adventure Playhouse
Mark Wyatt from Grubby Paws Mobile Dog Wash
Kat from Wunderdogs Doggie Daycare, Noosaville
Lunabelle’s Grooming
Lorna Henry and Diane Knowles from Winky Wonky Wash Co.
Chloe from Buderim Dog Grooming
Paws ‘n’ Play
Animal Affair Dog Boutique & Grooming
Pawmona Laundromutt Dog Grooming
Molly Scott from Waggy Wash Dog Spa
Fluffles Dog Grooming
Boutique Dog Grooming
JJ’s Pawfect Groom
Demi from Barkhouse Grooming and Doggie Daycare
Regal Paws Mobile Dog Hydrobath & Grooming
Jess from Mootown Muttz
Sunshine Paws
Everything Dogz
Jess from Short Bark N Sides Pet Boutique
Rescues and rehabilitation
Bev from 4 Paws Animal Rescue Inc
Penny Brischke from Sunshine Coast Animal Refuge
Lucky Paws Dog Rescue Inc
Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue
Soquilichi Rescue Ranch – SRR
Noosa & Sunshine Coast Region Koala Rescue Team – Wildcare Australia
Wildlife Noosa
Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at Eumundi
Dhil’um-bar Sanctuary
Wildlife SEQ Inc
Wildlife Rescue Queensland
Bat Conservation & Rescue QLD
Other organisations and animal workers
Hinterland Pulse Therapy
Georgina Huth and the team from The Farmyard at Terella
Smart Pups Assistance Dogs
Angela Weeks from PTSD Dogs Australia
Pet Barn Kawana
Miss Piggys Guinea Pig Lair Inc.
Ultimate K9
The National Canine Academy
Donna Hamer from Donna Dolittle Animal Communicator
Di and Monique from K9 Tales: Training and Assistance Dogs
Adaptive K9
Tara and Aaron from Little Treasures Pet Cremation
The Canine Classroom
Kristy from Easy K9
Slinky and Rusty
Jessica Price
Salty Pack
Rebekah Dias
Melanie Penman
Simon Cassidy
Emily Rose
Tommy Hill
Kelly Mayfield
May Baker
Someeya Nash
Alie Anderson
Amelia Eloise
Julie Cupples
Tamarah Rapinette
Jaydon McDowell
Lisa Pitfield
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