Our Vets

John Hayes BVSc MRCVS

 John is the foundation owner of Westlakes Vet Hospital. His first Newcastle practice was   Wallsend Veterinary Hospital and then in 1981 he began the Westlakes Hospital at   Fennell Bay. For 35 years he has been providing a caring and excellent professional   service for the pets of Lake Macquarie.

 He is very community minded – for many years, as President of the Newcastle Veterinary   Association, John gave free pet advice each week on the local ABC radio station as well   as sessions on 2HD and appearances on the local TV Morning Show, helping Newcastle   people provide the best care for their pets. He is a long-standing trustee for the Toronto   Scout Group.

 John started his Veterinary career in Dubbo, before   gaining experience in England in both equine and   small  animal practices. He still enjoys treating horses,   but these days most of his time is spent on all areas of   general medicine and surgery for smaller pets. He enjoys keeping up to date with the latest exciting innovations in Veterinary Science. John’s vast experience has given him a depth in general case management that is exceptional in the profession.

Outside of work John follows with a passion Australian cricket, Rugby, AFL –indeed all sports. He and his wife Pamela enjoy travelling when time and practice allow and keeping up with their three children and their families.

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Paul Collard BVSc

Paul has been practising Veterinary Science for over 30 years. He set up his own successful small animal practice on the South Coast of NSW before returning to what he describes as "God's own country", Lake Macquarie, where he grew up. He has been with Westlakes Veterinary Hospital for three years and already has a loyal following of clients.

Heidi

Heidi has been with Westlakes Vet since early 2009.

Heidi runs our Wednesday night Puppy Preschool classes and has been teaching the puppies of the Lake Macquarie region for over 4 years now.

Heidi is known for her caring nature with every patient that walks through our doors. She often opens her home and gives up weekends to ensure that injured wildlife are properly looked after and loved.

She has an eccentric collection of animals that share her home with Heidi and her son. Sheldon, a beautiful Staffy cross. Jordan, Mia and Spaghetti the cats. Jordan was rescued by Nurse Heidi when he was very young and found in a nearby field and Mia was part of a litter that Nurse Heidi hand raised. Spaghetti was also a rescue who was found near by at a young age, and Caesar, the three legged bulldog! Some of you may have already met Caesar, he’s hard to forget! After being hit by a car Nurse Heidi adopted him and nursed him through his recovery and the loss of his leg. It certainly doesn’t slow him down one bit!

 

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Jenn

Jenn has been with our team since early 2011.

 She has a keen interest in the conservation and   spent a month volunteering on a conservation   reserve in South Africa in 2013. 
 Here she practised a wide range of things that you   could only expect to learn in Africa, such as preditor   monitoring, watching a resident vet dart and sterilise   a huge bull elephant on the reserve and then taking   blood from a vein in the elephants ear herself! Along   with caring for the animals she did community work   with children at the local preschool. 

 She is always furthering her education by enrolling in online and face to face webinars,   seminars and courses.
 She is highly passionate about her job and shows a special interest in all things cat related.

Jenn has 4 cats who all came to her through rescue, inluding her handraised, larger than life, Ruth, the gentle Andy, Robbie and Simon. 

 

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 Makenzie

 Makenzie has been with our team since 2014.

Makenzie brings a positive and bright attitude to our team and fits in well. She is great with cats and dogs alike and has proven her skills with newborn animals by assisting with caesarians and even hand raising newborn kittens!

The amount of love she shows to these helpless animals tells us that Makenzie is a great vet nurse and always provides the utmost care and nurturing for our patients.

Makenzie is our social media guru and runs our Facebook page as well as our Instagram page with over 3000 followers!
If you’ve got a cute pet who likes having their photo taken let her know next time you’re in and she’ll get them featured!

Makenzie has three cats and a dog at home. Eddie the staffy who you will hear before you see. Eddie is a very friendly, tank-like dog who will kill you with kisses! He loves other dogs and people and is a real talker! Link, the ragdoll cross who will cuddle anyone to death! Barny, who was rescued here at Westlakes and Salem the torti, who is a little shy and cranky at times but we love her! 

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