Hi I’m Dr Kelly,
I am the principal veterinarian and business owner of Bentons Road Vet Clinic. I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, I attended Mt Eliza Secondary College before moving to Brisbane to study Veterinary Science.
I have been working in this profession since 2002 and the longer I work as a vet, the more I see the importance of my role as a veterinarian. More and more families are involving pets in their lifestyle to reap the physical and psychological health benefits of pet ownership, and I am proud that these families come to us for advice on how they can provide the best life for their pet.
My veterinary career has gone through many different versions; I have been a stud vet working as in equine reproduction in the racing industry; I have worked in rural practice and done my time calving cows at 3am in the dark and freezing cold; I have had my James Herriot experiences in rural England, the land of winding country lanes and payment for vet services in eggs and sherry! I have locumed across Great Britain in corporate practices, small practices and large practices, learning the different accents as I went. I have worked in emergency and referral hospitals and for large multi-clinic practices. I have studied emergency and critical care medicine, animal behaviour, companion animal nutrition, western herbal medicine and veterinary dentistry. With all of this behind me, I love general practice work and bringing all of my learning and experience to the table with each pet I meet.
Creating Bentons Road Veterinary Clinic has been a dream of mine since I graduated. I love that we have created a space where vets are able to offer their preferred style of veterinary medicine and where pet owners feel they are listened to and really heard. We pride ourselves on addressing all health concerns of our patients and educating pet owners on how to look after their pet according to their own ethos. I am also involved in the Australian Veterinary Association and am a member of the Policy Advisory Council of the AVA. I have membership of the Integrative Veterinarians of Australia and the Australian Small Animal Veterinarians Interest Groups. Through these channels I am actively engaged in continuing to further veterinarian’s education in integrative fields and I also participate in business coaching groups helping our business and others’ to improve the veterinary profession.
My home life is local. My two gorgeous girls attend local schools and are growing up far too quickly. Much of my free time is dedicated to the netball courts in all seasons! My husband, a recently retired paramedic, is wonderfully supportive of my career and our business. In our down time, you can find us frequenting many of the Peninsula’s wonderful wineries or restaurants, or heading to the beaches or bushwalking tracks in Summer. In the cold of winter you are more likely to find us curled up inside by our wood burning stove.
Our home is ruled by our cat, Chino, our vocal Ragdoll who never hesitates to let us know how we are not living up to her expectations. She also lords over our dog Ash, a mini wolfhound who never quite grew up (and also who apparently has no wolfhound DNA in her). Whatever breeds she has in her, she is gorgeous and enthusiastic about everything in life, but especially balls! We have backyard chooks who give us eggs most days and two overfed and happy guinea pigs who share the chicken coop and have figured out how to get into the rodent proof chicken feeder!
From the COVID era moving forwards, we hope to spend more time travelling this great country and experiencing all that she has to offer. We’d also like to get back to overseas travel when the time is right.
