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The first practicing vet in Canberra was a Scot. He was offered a site on which to build a practice in Civic but declined as being, I understand, "too dear." That site was sold in the late 80's for 2 million! Norm Bolas was the second vet in the ACT. He eventually built on a site in Lyneham and becoming the Canberra Veterinary Hospital it was redeveloped in the mid 80's and again more recently. There is still a link with the Bolas family and our hospital. Bob Dunlop was the third and after setting up a house practice in Campbell was involved in the Narrabundah project. I think he became disenchanted with Canberra politics such that he built a genuine Small Animal Hospital around 1970 as close to the Canberra border as possible on Yass Road. It is the Queanbeyan Vet Hospital. The two sites were miles apart but, if one ignored the Airport, they were virtual neighbours!
In 1976, having youth, each other and good health, despite not having 2 pennies to rub together, Carol and I made the life changing decision to set up our own shingle. This decision was partly based on the advice of a Christian Estate Agent, Ernest, who later became a good friend. He did the initial financial analysis on a hand held calculator, one of the first we had seen. He was a country boy so we can still remember that calloused stabbing index finger covering each and sometimes several other keys as these figures were calculated. He had been introduced to us by one of my early clients. So early a client was he that, the patients (two cats and a dog called Henry) had been under my care in London prior to emigration. Carol, an Ozzie, had souvenired me from the grime of England and we had both decided to settle down in Canberra. It was very convenient for the 'Outlaws' in Bathurst and the rest of the tribe in Sydney and Mildura. We spent several days in Ernest's car looking at all possible veterinary clinic sites in Canberra (about 9 in number) to determine the ideal location. We wanted somewhere where there were no vets in the immediate vicinity so we could not be considered as poaching and began to realise that the ideal site would be on a major road.
Our first major consideration was Wanniassa where the population was 2,000! We could not understand Ernest's lack of enthusiasm at putting a deposit on a house that backed onto the proposed Athlon Drive. It satisfied the major criteria and we could visualise the familiar blue light beckoning the homeward bound public servants. Ernest in his wisdom was not one to count chickens prior to hatching and he must have known that although the road was clearly marked on the map of Canberra it would take another 10 years before it was built.
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Our patient was a puppy that was suffering from a heavy worm burden and I was able to treat it with the drugs I had carried around as a locum &endash; a half shoebox of medications. Two days later we had a dramatic case that was crucial to establishing the reputation of this new kid on the block. A near neighbour rushed down about 10am to ask me to come quickly as our next-door neighbours dog, Sox, had been hit on the street outside her house. I attended to find a large, unconscious dachshund with a badly lacerated ear and large wound on the temple and carried him back to our make shift clinic in the laundry and treated him. The near neighbour had presumed Sox to be dead and was first on the scene to inform Marge, our next-door neighbour, of this fact when she returned from work. Marge's tears were stifled as she entered the laundry to be greeted by a wagging tail and a lot of snuffling. From that day onward, however, the dog always attempted to bite me whenever I treated him. Such is gratitude!
Business was building up and after a few days I visited our Canberra veterinary wholesaler, Pat Allen, at his house in Scullin to replenish my drug supply. Two weeks later, I appeared on his doorstep again with $50 to pay for those drugs and to buy more. He looked at me as if I was from Mars and took me aside to explain the wonders of taking a thing called an 'account' and paying after a '30 day statement'!
After 45 days or so, Carol was dissatisfied with the arrangement that saw our hallway being used as a waiting room and the bathroom as the Minor operating theatre. She was about to produce twins and, quite rightly, conceived that the laundry should be utilized for the washing of, what turned out to be an average of 36 nappies per day. I was obliged to convert the room in the garage. I installed the plumbing and electricity, (quite legally but that's another story) painted the floor, installed a heater, built shelves, scrounged a table, and borrowed some cages from my old work place in Queanbeyan. It was always a bit embarrassing for people to wait just inside the roller door with the car on the other side but we did not have so many people at one time.
On the Sunday of the induction of the twins, the hospital rang about 9am to say Carol was going into labour and could I attend. At 9.02am, a client rang to say that her cat had fallen into an oil tray and could I help. The patient was bought over, and, with the assistance of the grandfather-to-be, anaesthetised, and spent an hour in cleaning it up. I just hoped Carol could hold on. I was at her side by 11am and the twins were born around 12.30pm at the old Canberra Hospital.
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A car was important in another case. I was Captain of the local Boy's Brigade Company. One night on duty, I was looking after about 15 youngsters at Holt School on my own and I was needed to assist with a whelping bitch.
The owner was dispatched up to the school where, with the kids surrounding the car, I clambered into the back seat of a Mini and assisted with the delivery. Another occasion found Carol and I on a rare night out at a local restaurant when, just as the food was delivered, my mother-in-law acting as baby sitter and phone answerer summoned me back to the clinic. It was a most peculiar kittening where four kittens had tied themselves up in knots with their umbilical chords. It was fascinating and took quite a time to disengage the squirming mass of feet and tails from the chords. I have not seen a case like it since but the lobster that Carol had ordered as a special treat, and had asked to be kept warm awaiting my return was just a mush. One of many spoilt meals!
In England, Carol and I had worked a locum for a friend whose wife left him within a year of setting up his own practice. She had been left to answer the phone all the time, had a child, and they could not get an answering machine which were then under the total control of the British GPO. Our absolute first purchase was an answering machine and soon a pager followed it. We wanted no repeats.
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The surgical suite lasted 10 years until we moved into Kippax Veterinary Hospital on Australia Day 1990. We became the first hospital in ACT to be accredited by the Australian Small Animal Veterinary Association in 1991 and the Inaugural Accredited Hospital of the Year in 1993. Carol is still the practice manager and, the twins, James and Martin, and Amy, our daughter, have all worked in the practice as nurses and/or receptionists. Amy started Veterinary Science in 2000, she at the oldest University (Sydney) in the antipodes with the longest running veterinary course following a father who trained in the oldest Veterinary College (Royal Veterinary College, London) in the English-speaking world.
If there are any regrets on my part, it has been the paucity of time able to be spent with the family and the difficulty of time management when one is on duty so many nights (nearly every night in the first 7 years). It has been countered by our joy in being able to look after pets and their owners (many of whom have become good friends) enjoy the bounding good health of the majority, share the pleasure of recovery, empathise with the grief of loss, to grow older with the clients and to see their children bring their pets to the hospital. The sense of being the neighbourhood vet has been fantastic. It has also been wonderful to see so many promising young veterinary surgeons and other staff members make their way upward and onward in this, and other allied professions. It is brilliant to work with such a good team of responsible and caring staff.
Dr. John Aspley Davis
