Dr Dave MacPhail

DVM(Hons), MBA

Although he no longer considers himself a nomad, Dave has indulged his travel bug all of his life. Although a native of Edinburgh, he spent several years in Canada where he also graduated as a veterinarian at the Ontario Veterinary College. An initial interest in equine racetrack practice gave way to mixed equine and small animal practice and then, finally, to purely companion animals. Prior to taking over ownership of Gawler South, Dave has been a practice owner, a practice valuer and a veterinary management consultant. Excellence in customer service and teamwork are minor (some might say major!) obsessions and Dave loves coaching, mentoring and developing staff. He is a founding director of the Australian Veterinary Business Association and has also held down positions at the University of Adelaide Veterinary School.

Dave has lived in the Gawler area for over 20 years with wife Janet and children Cat, Innes and Kirsty (all now following careers interstate or overseas). Apart from family, his interests are all things sport (particularly rugby, ski-ing and ice hockey), travel, and the outdoors generally. Co-habitants of the family abode include a deerhound, Islay, a Vizsla, Saffy, and a Burmese cat, Olly. At this stage, he is one of the few people in the practice not to be a member of the Salisbury Hunt Club!

Dr Steve Crouch

B.Sc, BVMS (Hons)

Stephen Crouch (better known as Steve) earnt his Veterinary Degree graduating with honours from the University Of Melbourne in 1992. Since then he has practiced in the North Eastern suburbs of Adelaide, in the United Kingdom, and at the Adelaide Veterinary Emergency Centre, as a small animal veterinary surgeon exclusively (well other than raising a couple of calves, suturing a couple of his own sheep and stitching up a neighbour's horse!).

His potentially outstanding career in sled dog racing was stunted by owning a beautiful but purely social and non-competitive Siberian Husky named Sofia in the mid-90s.

Soon after marrying, he and his wife Anne travelled to the UK for one year which turned into nearly seven years abroad. He managed a busy small animal practice in greater London and enjoyed the various accents of clients as well as the opportunity to sight-see and contribute to a lively and healthy church community. However the draw of Australia as the best place in the world to raise kids and the yearning for a bit more sunshine (had to buy the kids gumboots ("wellingtons") during a very wet UK ‘summer' holiday!) saw him return to Adelaide in 2004 and take up residence near Gawler.

He now enjoys being outdoors, gardening, camping, renovating DIY, tinkering with his old ute (fortunately, as it's always breaking down) and helping out with activities at his kid's school. His flock of rescued galahs is now up to two, the chickens provide great eggs and compost for the garden, the calves keep the grass down, the cat rules the house and Harry the wonder dog (bullet proof Labrador X Kelpie) just loves everybody.

Throughout his veterinary career Steve has had a keen interest in surgery in particular and believes that blood should stay inside the body as much as possible!

The opportunity to move into a senior veterinarian and managerial role at the Gawler South Small Animal Hospital proved very exciting, especially as it marries Steve's enjoyment of treating and caring for animals with his love for being involved in the wonderful community of Gawler.

Dr Carolyn Ellis

B.Sc, BVMS

Carolyn studied veterinary medicine at Murdoch University in Perth. After working in mixed practice for 18 months, she decided to focus on small animal practice, and has worked in several dedicated small animal practices since 2004.

Carolyn has been working at Gawler South since 2006 and loves working in such a happy, friendly veterinary hospital, with a great team of colleagues, and providing the best of care to the patients and clients. She is particularly interested in medical cases and dermatology and behaviour problems in pets.

Carolyn is married to Paul and they have recently had a whippet puppy, Ella, join their family. Ella keeps them entertained with her mischief and energetic antics!

Dr Rebecka Thompson

B.Sc, BVMS (Hons)

Beck graduated from the Murdoch vet School in Perth 2003 It was in Perth that she met her husband Glenn. She has been working at Gawler South for most of the time since then, although she had an 18 month break to work as a locum vet in the UK. Despite the draw of the green fields of England and travel in Europe, she still came back to Gawler South for the fabulous people and pets. Her veterinary interests are medicine, ophthalmology and imaging. Beck has a scruffy terrier ‘Devo' who loves to do tricks for food, and a galah called ‘Gizmo'. In her spare time, Back loves to ride her horse Jasper as a member of the Salisbury Hunt Club and is an active participant in the Gawler South Pony Club.

Dr Sarah Hill

B.VetMed

Sarah graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1999, and worked in Small Animal practice in England for a short time before crossing the border to complete an Internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, It was there that she met her husband, Peter, a specialist veterinary dermatologist. Having had a taste of academia, Sarah dipped her toe into research waters but was duly side-tracked with babies. During this time, she had a short period of absence from work before returning to small animal practice part time.

In 2009, the lure of the Sunburnt Country brought Sarah and her family to Sydney. In October 2010, Peter was head-hunted for a position at the newly-developed veterinary school at Roseworthy and this resulted in a move to beautiful South Australia. Shortly after arriving, Sarah stepped into Carolyn's shoes whilst she was unwell, and was overwhelmed by the friendly welcome from staff. She immediately felt part of the fantastic team and jumped at the opportunity of joining as a full-time staff member shortly afterwards.

Sarah, Peter, Jack and Joshi enjoy playing on their property in a pretty Barossa township, with their Boxer Elsa, and cat Maui.

Sarahs other major interest is running and she is currently trying to cajole other staff members to train for the City to Bay and Adelaide half marathon later this year. However, some members of the team are claiming knee surgery as a poor excuse to avoid running with her...................! (editor's note - time will tell how well the recovery goes!) 

Natalie Hidden

Veterinary Nurse

Nat is a fully-qualified Veterinary Nurse with many years experience. She has worked at Gawler South for most of her career and has helped the practice grow from a tiny, one-vet operation to its current multi-person, thriving accredited hospital status. Her passion for vet nursing is a driving force in her life and the care of animals has always been very important. Nat's interests reflect her love for animals with successful competition in dog agility and horse eventing. She currently rides with the Salisbury Hunt Club and is a member of the Gawler Dog Agility Club with her clever little cross-breed ‘Javu'. Nat's other interests include water sports on the River Murray and camping with husband Paul, son Ryan and friends. 

Lainie Cozzitorto

B.Sc
Veterinary Nurse 

Lainie is a fully-qualified Veterinary Nurse who has been working at Gawler South for over 10 years. Her education includes a degree in applied science in agriculture and a Certificate IV in vet nursing. She has an active family life with husband ‘Cozzi' and two boys Adam and Angus. The family is very involved in camping, rugby union (Barossa Rams stalwarts), horse riding and many other activities. Lainie is passionate about working with animals and about all aspects of veterinary nursing, and, in her spare time, she even teaches nursing students at TAFE!

Jane Zielinski

Veterinary Nurse

Jane is a fully qualified veterinary nurse and has been nursing for over 8 years and enjoying every moment. She considers herself lucky enough to have worked in the same veterinary hospital for all of that time, with a great team of passionate and dedicated vets and nurses. As a vet nurse, she gets the privilege of meeting some wonderful pets and believes it is really a credit to the owners. She has an unfortunate habit (an occupational hazard amongst veterinary staff) of getting too attached to her patients, which can be hard at times, but to see them grow from a puppy to a beloved member of the family is a highlight of the job. If she could offer any advice to pet owners, it would be to not spoil your pet with tasty treats but rather with time and love!

Sam Savage

Veterinary Nurse

Sam has been working at Gawler South since 2008 is in the process of completing her veterinary nursing Certificate IV training. Her passions go beyond the normal as she has a 10-foot pet carpet python (with attitude!) and a gentle giant of a dog named Bruce. Sam has been interested in working in the animal industry ever since she was a small country girl (Stockport). When she is not with her pets, she loves to go to the beach or up the river to spend time with her friends.

Suzi Judd

Veterinary Nurse

Suzi has competed 90% of her veterinary nurse training and seems to love the more challenging, adrenaline-charged aspects of practice. Intensive care, emergencies, caesarean sections and exotic pet anaesthetics are top of Suzi's list of fun tasks! She also enjoys the more unusual pets outside of practice, having hand-reared a ringtail possum at home. She loves horses and dogs and, like several of the Gawler South staff, goes out horse-riding whenever she can. Suzi lives in the Barossa with husband Paul, and their son, Connor, keeps them both busy. Radar, a Tenterfield Terrier, and Bomber, a Staffy Cross, make up the remainder of Suzi's family.

Mel Skelton

Veterinary Nurse

Mel is one of our trainee veterinary nurses at Gawler South. She's been nursing since early 2010 and loving every moment of it. She's currently in her second year of study and can't wait to be fully qualified. What Mel loves most about working at Gawler South is that everyone works as a team and does the best for the welfare of the pets. At home, Mel has two dogs, Sasha and Boof, and a cheeky cat she calls Kitty! She loves looking after her pets and always does the best for them. Mel is one of the only people known to take her electric hair-straightener on camping trips!

Emma Page

Veterinary Nurse

Emma has been nursing since the age of nineteen, and came to the position naturally. Her Mum was also a vet nurse, and so Emma is following in her footsteps. As a result of Emma's upbringing, she was always surrounded by animals from an early age and grew up with horses, dogs, cats, birds and fish. The experience she gained from caring for these rescued, injured and adopted pets has stood her in good stead and given her a really good bond with animals. Emma is planning on a long -term career in vet nursing and is excited to be a part of the Gawler South team. She is currently working on her Veterinary Nurse training through TAFE. As she continues her study, she is keen to become the best vet nurse she can and to take advantage of all the new experiences she encounters at work each day.

Jen McKinlay

Veterinary Nurse

After 12 years of working as a graphic designer, including 7 years in Sri Lanka and India, Jen decided to return to study and to finally follow her true passion and become a veterinary nurse. While working at the Animal Welfare League for a couple of years, she completed her Certificate IV training. Jen has been working as a vet nurse since 2008 and is very excited to have joined the expanding team at Gawler South. During her time living in Asia, Jen fostered and re-homed many stray animals, volunteered on street dog desexing programs and performed volunteer work in an Indian Vet Clinic (bit different to working here!).

Sharee McGree

Veterinary Nurse

Sharee is a fully-qualified veterinary nurse and has been a fixture at Gawler South, on and off, for many years. She always brings a happy attitude to work and keeps everyone cheerful. Sharee has a real interest in people (staff and clients alike) and has a knack of making everyone feel important. When not at work, Sharee spends her time looking after her boys - Dave (husband), and Billy and Riley (sons). Daughter Demi looks after herself!

Sonia Van De Kamp, Cert `IV Nurse

Sonia has been nursing since 2001 and brings a hugely cheerful presence to her work. She is a fully qualified veterinary nurse and is in the final stages of completing her Veterinary Nurse Accreditation. Sonia is a real believer in continuing education and is a very knowledgeable and experienced nurse. She sits on the committee of the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia and is responsible for its continuing education program. She has a fantastic approach to work and brings a smile to the faces of both clients and staff. If her patients could smile as well, they most certainly would!!

When not brightening up the lives of everyone at work, Sonia is kept fully occupied by her husband Mick, daughter Tommi and son Jace. The Van De Kamps are a very musical family with Mick playing in a local rock band and Sonia singing at all times of day or night (including at work!)!! They share the property with 2 horses, Rusty and Sabre, as well as 2 cats, Matilda and Sprinkles.

TANIA McKEE (Dip VN, Cert IV TAA)

Tania has come back to the frontline of nursing to join our dedicated team. Her 15 years of experience reflect Tania's entrenched enthusiasm for the animal industry. She holds her Diploma qualification as an Emergency and Critical Care nurse, and as a qualified Educator, Trainer and Assessor of Veterinary Nurses.

Above all this, Tania true love lies with her husband, Gregg and son, Laurie. This is closely followed by her dedication to her animals (and of course... her job! a common trait shared with Steve...)

 Tania's furry -family consists of two dogs (Summer and ‘cat-dog' aka Charlee), three horses (Teaq, Brock & Tumbles), cat (Scooter) and a geriatric guinea pig (Pirate).

In Tania's spare time, she enjoys playing touch football once a week as part of a social team, and shares a lifelong dedication to riding and training horses with husband Gregg.

In the future, Tania wishes to return to property with her family and travel back Ireland to see some old friends on the West Coast in Connemara.