Meet Our People

Tony first came to Naracoorte as a new veterinarian way back in in 1992. He has owned the business since 2009.  He grew up in the pastoral area of far west Queensland in the channel country. He completed his Bachelor of Veterinary Science at the Queensland University and graduated in 1990. Once his studies were complete, he spent a year in the Western Australian Kimberley, then moved to Naracoorte in 1992 to work for the Naracoorte & Penola Veterinary Centres for 6 years, before returning to the Kimberley for another 7 years. In 2005 Tony returned to Naracoorte to work for the Naracoorte & Penola Veterinary Centres and in 2009 he purchased the practice and is still the proud owner today.

Tony loves his job as a country vet. He has a passion for the local community, for helping people and their animals and enjoys leading his great team of people doing high quality work. Tony loves the variation of his work and has developed skills in small animal orthopaedics, large animal medicine and surgery and artificial breeding of horses. In 2020 he partnered with the Adelaide University to formally train final year Veterinary students in Rural Practice.

Tony and his partner Brooke live on a small farm on the edge of town. They have 4 dogs, 1 cat, 2 pet cows, 12 horses, 50 sheep and some chooks. He is a father to four children and stepdad to two. He believes he is the luckiest person in the world.

Leisha has been a Veterinary Technician for 20 years now after graduating from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Animal Science specialising in Veterinary Technology in 2003.  She began her nursing career in a small animal general practice clinic in Mackay, Queensland before moving to Brisbane to work in a solely Equine specialty referral clinic where she worked for almost 10 years. Despite really enjoying this work, she wanted a change and to further her skills so began working at the University of Queensland’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in both the Equine and Small Animal ICU departments. She also worked with the Animal Emergency Service in Underwood, Brisbane where she mostly nursed in the dedicated Pet Intensive Care Unit with the occasional shifts in the Emergency department. It was here that Leisha really developed her love of small animal emergency and critical care nursing and further expanded her interest in anaesthesia and pain management.

In 2015 Leisha began traveling Australia whilst locum nursing and playing polocrosse and in November 2016 began work at the Naracoorte Vets. Leisha and her husband now permanently live in the region on a small 30 acre hobby farm with our young daughter and a host of animals.

Brooke moved to Naracoorte from Adelaide in 2005. She spent 14 years on an Angus stud, before starting with the Naracoorte and Penola Veterinary Centres in 2018.

Brooke has a passion for large animals, emergencies and critical care, orthopedics and gastroenterology surgeries, and artificial breeding of horses. She manages the artificial breeding programs for the clinic in the summer.

She has her own Quarter Horse stud, and has 12 mares, 2 pet cows, 4 dogs, 50 sheep, a cat, chooks, three children and three stepchildren.

Ellena graduated from University Of Queensland in 2001 and moved to the South East to immerse herself in the diverse experience of mixed practice.

Over the years she has ventured out of the South East to view the grass on the other side of the fence as a locum, including back home in East Gippsland, to her dairy farm beginnings. Ellena has studied further in Equine Dentistry, and in 2016 completed the Sydney University CVE Sonology course.

She lives on a Prime Lamb producing property in Lochaber, with her partner Justin and their two children. Justin keeps her busy looking after sheep and caring for his polocrosse horses and working dogs, their children keep her just plain busy. Ellena has swapped her bike in the past few years and is trying to learn how to play polocrosse.

Brittany graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2012. After graduating she spent six years working in rural mixed practice in the Southeast of SA before deciding to change fields and specialise in sheep production and medicine. Brittany spent two and a half years as an on-farm advisor for a large sheep cell grazing enterprise where she managed the cell grazing program.

Recently, Brittany completed her certificate in Sheep Worm Management and is an accredited Paraboss Advisor. In her spare time Brittany is a busy mother to two young kids and runs a small beef and sheep operation with her husband.

Brittany is extremely passionate about sheep production and working alongside producers to maximise their production. She is looking forward to offering her services to our clients in the coming years.

Rory joined the team in December 2022 as a new graduate veterinarian after completing his studies at the University of Adelaide.

Rory grew up on a sheep and beef farm outside of Casterton in SW Victoria, which began his passion for sheep and beef production medicine. In addition to his love of ruminants, Rory has also developed a keen interest in wildlife medicine and enjoys working with native Australian fauna.

Outside of work Rory can be found either working on the family farm, playing football or working with his young kelpie, Edith, whom he adopted soon after starting work here.

Nicola graduated from Massey University Vet School in New Zealand in 2000 and has worked as a small animal veterinarian ever since. Her interests include small animal medicine and surgery, and she completed a post-graduate Master of Veterinary Medicine degree with a small animal endorsement back in 2016. She has published research into Australian Working Farm Dog health and disease outcomes, and loves working with this specialist and iconic group of dogs, as well as all other companion animals.

Nicola is married to Jono and they have 3 children who occupy the rest of the time when she’s not working. When she does manage to get some downtime, she enjoys SCUBA diving and volunteering for surf lifesaving. She is excited to be working with Tony once again, having previously worked with him for several years prior to moving to Casterton with her family in 2016.

Lauren graduated from the Melbourne University in 2012 and moved to Mount Gambier for her first job. After three years Lauren began travelling the country as a locum before filling a short-term position in Melbourne at a small animal clinic. She then travelled overseas and on the way home spent a month in India obtaining her Yoga Teacher Training Certificate. In 2017 Lauren started at the Naracoorte & Penola Veterinary Centres where she has been an amazing small animal vet since.

Lauren now works three days a week and is kept busy by her little boy on her other days, she loves her garden and yoga too when she has the chance!

Meg started with us in February 2024, as a new graduate veterinarian from the University of Adelaide.

She grew up in Roxby Downs, a small mining town 6 hours north of Adelaide. Hearing tales from her parent’s childhoods on farms sparked her interest in livestock, although she has loved all animals great and small for as long as she can remember.

Meg loves that no day is the same in the clinic and that she gets to know the local community through her work.

Outside of work you’ll likely run into Meg on court playing either Netball, Basketball or Tennis, or in Trev’s shopping for her next craft project.

Meg has 2 cats with her partner Dr. David, which they adopted from the clinic shortly after starting work with us.

Becky graduated in 2013 from Charles Sturt University and went on to work in mixed practice in Benalla, Victoria for 5 years. It was here she discovered her love for sheep work, and moved to Hamilton where she worked for Livestock Logic to further her skills and knowledge in this area.

After meeting a lovely farmer near Naracoorte, she joined the team at Naracoorte Vets in 2019.

Becky now works part time, juggling veterinary work, looking after her two girls Sophie and Georgie and helping out on their sheep and cropping property.

Danielle began working for the Naracoorte Vet Clinic in 2020. Danielle grew up just up the road in Keith on a small farm with many animals.

She completed her veterinary nurse studies in 2018, but headed to Perth for a change of scenery before returning to South Australia in 2020 to begin her career in the Veterinary Industry.

Out of work you will find Danielle and her partner working hard on their little farm, riding her horse or playing with her three kelpies.

Tamlyn grew up on a small farm on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. In her early teenage years, her and her family moved interstate to Central Queensland for some years, before moving back to the Eyre Peninsula once again. Upon leaving school she went north, Governessing on a large cattle station. With never knowing what animal would be bought back to the station homestead after days work that needed some extra tlc, she discovered that working and caring for animals was what she wanted to do.

2020 saw her start her vet nursing traineeship in Whyalla, South Australia. After 4 years in a larger town, she soon realised that she was missing the big animals and rural living. She then applied to work down here in Naracoorte with her 2 cats Mario and Onni. Tamlyn is keen on working with all animals large and small, and she regularly finds herself going home with many types of animals that need a bit of extra love and care.

Sophie grew up at Wannon, Victoria on a little hobby farm with a menagerie of animals. Growing up with all kids of pets and working on surrounding farms from a young age kick started her passion for animals. She started her Veterinary Nursing career over 10 years ago in Hamilton and eventually moved to South Australia where she worked as a Veterinary Nurse, eventually meeting her husband and had having two beautiful children. She now lives and works part time on their family farm and started back Veterinary Nursing late last year.

Sophie has a passion for all things horses, competing in a range of disciplines and has recently started playing Polocrosse. She also runs her own dog training business Limestone Coast Canine training and works closely with Animal Behaviour Coaching through their Puppy Foundation Course.

Sophie is currently completing her Certificate II in Animal Care.

Briony grew up near Mundulla, and from a young age always had an animal of some description keeping her company, be it dog, horse, pet lamb or wildlife she was nursing back to health, leading her to the path of Veterinary Nursing as a career in 2009. She began her training in Adelaide working for a clinic specialising in exotic animals before taking a traineeship at Naracoorte & Penola Veterinary Centres to complete her qualifications.

Over the years of her nursing she has locumed in clinics in WA, including the RSPCA, before returning again to Naracoorte. She has enjoyed taking on various roles in the clinic, including Head Nurse, nurse training and running Puppy Classes.

Briony is now kept very busy with her twin sons, but loves still being part of the team by working on Saturdays. She enjoys providing advice on all things puppy related, general health and weight management for dogs and cats of all ages and helping owners provide the best healthcare they can for their beloved pets.

Verity began nursing in Sydney in 2008, she completed her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing in early 2010 and worked in a small animal practice for five years.

She then took a few years off to focus on external study (which she is now doing her Bachelor of Psychology and Master of Social Work) and travel.

Verity started at the Naracoorte Vet Clinic in 2018 and is a serious collector of cats, having five of them and two dogs. Verity has a soft heart and will take home just about any creature to give it a chance.

Naomi has worked in the Veterinary industry on and off for 9yrs. She lives on a sheep and cattle property near Casterton with her husband and her 2 daughters. She owns Jack Russell’s, working Kelpies and really enjoys spending her time off riding her horses.

She enjoys working on the front desk as she gets to know the clients and the patients well. She also enjoys Orthopedic surgeries. Naomi believes the intricate work of the Veterinarians is interesting & she enjoys challenging herself to become a more skilled nurse.