It has been a huge start to the year for the Longreach Veterinary Clinic, with plenty of positive changes to the services which they provide people from across the region.
Owner of the Longreach Veterinary Clinic James Walker, celebrated the announcement of three full-time vets in the region – Dr Lachlan Woods, Dr Max Woods, and Dr Edith Gregory
“It’s so refreshing – they absolutely love it,” Mr Walker said.
“The community is brilliant – they have welcomed them so well and they just love the pets, the patients, and the cases.
“They are loving it and have settled in quite well and people are saying they met them – it’s great.”
The process of welcoming the new veterinarians into the fold has been met with enthusiasm and support from the community, with Mr Walker detailing how important it is that vets continue to travel to the West.
“It’s critical – they have already saved a heap of animals from snake bites and other emergency issues,” Mr Walker said.
“It’s great to have them full-time and working over the weekends as well.
“They’re small animal vets but they also specialise in cattle and sheep reproduction – It’s fantastic.
“In terms of our Longreach service, with three vets we can now offer at-home visits as well, so instead of people coming to the clinic, we are going to have the ability to be mobile.”
In a bid to bolster veterinary care accessibility and standards in rural Queensland, Mr Walker has spearheaded the expansion of services into Blackall, with the initiative marking a significant milestone in bridging the gap between rural communities and essential healthcare services for animals.
“We are looking forward to it,” Mr Walker said about the expansion to Blackall.
“We have always serviced Blackall, but we have never had bricks and mortar there.
“We are looking forward to having that presence there so that people know that we are there, as well as investing in their community.”
The town of Blackall is excited about the expansion, with the new site allowing vets to be on the ground more often.
“(They are) extremely excited, and they just believe it’s a great move,” Mr Walker said.
“Hopefully with the new site, we can have vets stay there overnight sometimes and do a little bit more preg testing.
“(They are) really excited about somebody investing in their main street.”
Mr Walker also announced the development of a new Equine Centre, which will completely change the way people from the region can get their horses looked after.
“We have had horse industry people come and visit our new equine centre that we are building,” Mr Walker said.
“We’ve had Jaye Hall who is synonymous with camp drafting, horse ports and breeding, and she’s been working closely with Max Woods and has been getting some great results and having some great experiences.
“Hopefully we can service all of North and Western Queensland because the closest Equine Repro Centre is as far away as Beaudesert, so a lot of people go to Tamworth and Beaudesert.
“If we can open that up, that will be quite great.”
Mr Walker also detailed a new quarantine centre, which will provide high-level care to animals that has never been seen previously in Western Queensland.
“The quarantine centre is about being able to provide gold-standard care to any animals who get parvo or any sort of disease,” Mr Walker said.
“We have the wards with fully refrigerated conditions, and we are quite excited about offering that.
“Western Queensland has never had a ward like that before.”
It is an incredible time for the Longreach Veterinary Clinic at the moment, as the team continues to look for innovations to help streamline and strengthen their service and aid of all animals in the community.
If you have any concerns with your pets, can get in touch with the vet clinic via email at admin@longreachvet.com.au or via phone on 07 4658 3838.
