Kate Foran, Tennant & District Times

Barkly Vet has been operating here in Tennant Creek for 10 years this year!

One of the key goals of the business has always been to assist clients in the best animal welfare for their pets, despite this remote location.

We are very proud of the degree to which we have grown the number of Aboriginal clients in the business.

Of the private vet clinics in the NT, we believe that we have the highest percentage relationship with the local Aboriginal community.

Key to that growth has been working with people, to educate them in understanding preventative health, not just to see the vet clinic as the place to take your dog once they are injured or unwell.

For example, every single client gets Kate’s ‘tick talk’ at the front desk, about the dangers of the new tick disease! We are constantly encouraging the wearing of tick collars to help protect all local dogs from this deadly disease.

The other most commonly dealt with disease here is Parvo, which can be caught year-round, and you cannot imagine the genuinely happy cheering heard in the clinic recently when this family came through the door asking: “Can we please get a parvo injection for this puppy?”

With great enthusiasm, we were able to help them straight away.

Vaccinations are so important; every single puppy needs to get their needles to keep them safe!

The very next day, another Aboriginal gentleman dropped in to make an appointment for his puppy’s vaccination, and the cheers went up again! If you want to see grown adults behaving like kids in a candy store, come and see us to book your pup’s needles! We’ll be so happy to cheer you on, in the only way to keep your pup safe and well from this horrid disease!

This article appeared in Tennant & District Times, 28 July 2023.