About us
ThThe Halls Head Small Animal Clinic is a purpose built Veterinary Hospital established in 1989.
Since then the premises have been extended and renovated three times to become the modern state of the art vet hospital that exists today.
Richard and Lisa have been partners in the practice since 2004.
In December 2021 they became the sole owners.
The practice is dedicated to providing the highest quality of compassionate, personalised veterinary care available. We understand how important your pets are to your family, so we strive to offer the very best advice and treatment options possible while maintaining a caring and compassionate environment.
We pride ourselves on having a warm and friendly relationship with our clients and their pets and are always available for any advice you may need.
Consultations are by appointment.
Our facilities include:
Clinic facilities
- spacious waiting/reception room
- four consulting rooms
- pharmacy
- staff/conference room
- staff office
- wheel chair compliant toilets
- in house laboratory
- intensive care
- surgical prep and recovery
- two specialised operating theatres
- dental area
- radiography room
- isolation ward for infectious cases
- separate dog and cat wards
- laundry and food preparation room
- staff accommodation for overnight stays with hospitalised patients
- separate work stations for treating in-patients
- comfort room for pet owners to visit their hospitalised patients or for spending quality time with their pet during the euthanasia procedure
Specialised equipment
- Digital Xray machine
- Vision Veterinary software
- Ultrasound
- Fiberoptic endoscope
- Rhinoscope
- Otoscope
- Tenotomer
- Blood pressure monitor
- Electrocardiography
- Advanced orthopaedic equipment
- Electrocautery unit
- Autoclave x2
- Anaesthetic machines x4
- Surgery tables and theatre lights x2
- Examination tables and wet table
- Patient warming devices
- Fluid pumps
- Automatic ventilator
- In house Laboratory – REM blood analyser machine for rapid diagnostic blood tests. Centrifuge, Microscope for routine cytology & urinalysis, In house culture & sensitivity testing.
- Anaesthetic monitoring equipment – Blood pressure, Blood O2, Heart rate, Temp • Dental machine – ultrasonic scaling, polishing, rotating bur for sectioning teeth or root canal treatment
We have a very experienced team of vets and nurses working at the clinic who are all dedicated in providing the best quality of veterinary care available. Our staff regularly attend continuing education seminars to keep up to date with the latest in veterinary care and, along with our exceptional facilities and equipment, you can be assured of the highest quality of care for your pet.
Our team consists of 9 vets, 14 nurses and a practice manager. The advantage of having a multitude of vets on staff is that difficult cases are always discussed among the vets. Therefore you are not only getting a second opinion on a daily basis but also the shared knowledge of 2-3 nurses caring for the inpatients.
There are three friendly receptionists on duty during the day as well as two surgery nurses, an admittance / discharge nurse and a nurse caring for the hospitalised patients.
All of our staff have pets of their own and understand the attachment we all have with our pets which reinforces their commitment to providing the highest standard of veterinary care.
All our nurses are animal lovers and are dedicated to providing the highest quality care to our patients.
Dr Gibson graduated from Murdoch University in 1989 and ffter working in Australia and the UK he joined the clinic in 1998 as a senior Veterinary Surgeon.
Richard’s warm friendly nature with the clients and compassion shown to their pets saw him quickly establish a large clientele.
He became a partner in the practice in 2004 and on the 1st December 2021 became the sole owner of the practice.
Richard’s experience and knowledge in all aspects of veterinary medicine and surgery, along with his caring manner with the pets and their owners, is invaluable to the practice. He has a special interest in complex soft tissue and orthopaedic surgery.
Richard is married to Lisa and has two children Sarah and Lauren. He has 2 dogs, 2 rescue cats, 2 horses, 2 goats, 3 sheep, chickens, ducks and geese.
Dr Richard Gibson
Dr Clarke graduated from Murdoch University in 2001 and joined the Halls Head Small Animal Clinic in 2005 after working in busy small animal practices in her home state of South Australia.
Julia provides an excellent standard of veterinary care. Her medical and surgical knowledge is exceptional and she is constantly in touch with the latest medical and surgical techniques.
Julia’s calm demeanor, especially in emergency situations, and compassionate approach with the animals is greatly appreciated by her clients and colleagues alike. She is an amazing all rounder and has a special interest in small furies especially rabbits.
Julia is married and has two young girls, two dogs and a cat.
Dr Julia Clarke
Dr Leddon graduated from Murdoch University in 1989 and has worked in various practices in SA, Victoria and the UK, before joining our team in 2007.
Tanya is one of our most experienced and proficient vets on staff. She continuously educates herself on the latest medical and surgical procedures and her veterinary skills are unprecedented.
Tanya’s knowledge and work ethic makes her a perfect fit for our busy practice as she can comfortably manage the diversity of cases that we see.
The clients always feel comfortable when Tanya is treating their pet as she communicates clearly with them and is meticulous with conveying all the possible options and outcomes.
Tanya is married and has 4 teenage children and a three-legged rescue greyhound.
Dr Tanya Leddin
Stephanie graduated from Murdoch in 2009, working five years in mixed dairy practice in Victoria before moving into small animals ever since.
Interested in all aspects of small animal practice – especially medicine and emergency – she completed her masters in small animal medicine in 2015.
Stephanie has a Birman cat named Topaz and a menagerie of dogs. She enjoys travelling, footy, cricket and wine.
Dr Stephanie Gillett
Jess completed a degree in Zoology and Conservation Biology, before pursuing her real passion for veterinary medicine. She graduated from Murdoch University in 2016.
Jess grew up locally on a cattle farm in Coolup, and loves all creatures great and small. She has a particular fondness for cats and has spent many years fostering cats and kittens in need, which is tolerated very well by her much loved dog Molly.
In her spare time Jess takes care of her adopted cats, her pet birds, and her collection of orphan lambs, calves and joeys.
Dr Jessica McKay
Dr Emily Fagan
Carlina is a Certified IV qualified registered veterinary nurse who has been nursing since 1992 and joined our practice in 2007.
She is very proficient in all aspects of veterinary nursing and her experience makes her an invaluable member of our team.
Carlina is our head nurse and makes sure the day runs smoothly. She has two pets of her own – a dog called ‘Slippers’ and a rescue cat ‘Jeffery’.
Carlina
Chelsea is a Certificate IV qualified registered veterinary nurse who joined us in 2015.
She likes to keep up to date with all aspects of veterinary nursing and has a special interest in surgical nursing and emergency/critical care.
Chelsea enjoys spending time with her dog ‘Bella’ who is a rescue dog.
Chelsea is one is our specialist admit/ discharge nurses and will make sure that your pet is looked after during any surgical admittance.
Chelsea
Bree is an experienced nurse who is always willing to help our clients and their pets. She is a very reliable surgical nurse and provides a high standard of care to all of our hospital patients.
Bree has a warm, kind nature and is well liked by her work colleges as well as all of our clients.
Bree
Leah received her nursing qualification in 2004 and originally worked at HHSAC from 2007-2011 before heading up to Broome with her family for the past 9 years.
Outside of work Leah has two beautiful children, a dog called Dave and a cat called Monkey to keep her very busy.
Even before she could walk Leah loved animals and always knew that she wanted to be involved in a passionate industry that cares so much for our pets. It is such a diverse profession that allows you to constantly learn and grow.
Leah has stated that ‘It is a privilege to share in our clients journeys with their fur babies and to be surrounded by an incredibly talented team of vets and nurses.’
We couldn’t be happier to welcome her back into our family – Leah is an amazing nurse, truly dedicated & incredibly efficient.
Leah Malkovich
Tarsh started working at the clinic as a kennel hand in 1996 and is now an integral part of our reception team.
Tarsh exhibits tremendous compassion and empathy to the pets and their owners.
Her warm, friendly nature is highly appreciated by the clients and her workmates, making her a real asset to the practice. Tarsh has two Burmese cats, ‘Ralph’ and ‘Howard’, and a rescue cat named ‘Walter’.
Tarsh
Cody is one of our newest members on staff having joined us in November 2016.
She helps attend to the needs of our hospitalized patients and is planning to become a certified IV qualified Veterinary Nurse.
Cody is exceptionally caring with the patients and has a bright future in the Veterinary industry.
She has a rescue dog called ‘Ellie’, who loves going to the beach.
Cody
Hannah Fraser
