Brian Sheahan

Brian was Brisbane born and educated. He graduated from the University of Queensland as a Veterinary Surgeon in 1974. Brian then went as far away from Queensland as possible,

starting his first job in Hervey in Western Australia. Hervey Veterinary Clinic catered for predominately dairy cattle and trotting horses.

Brian’s particular areas of interest are equine & small animal surgery, medicine of competition horses and obstetrics.

Brian is a 4 star rated FEI Endurance veterinarian officiating at international events throughout the world. He was Chef d’Equipe for the Gold medal performance for the

Australian Endurance team in France 2000 and for the bronze medal for the World Equestrian Games in Spain 2002. Brian’s main hobby is losing money farming much to his wife,

Christeen’s disgust.

Judy Law

Judy was brought up locally in Keperra. Being horse crazy for as long as she can remember, all Judy ever wanted to do was be a veterinarian.

Judy graduated in 1992 from the University of Qld, then started at Samford Valley Veterinary Hospital as a mixed practitioner in 1992.

Judy’s professional interests lie in equine behaviour, lameness, reproduction, dentistry, equine medicine, foal medicine, camelids. Her hobbies include bird watching and camping in

outback remote areas.

Leigh Hanlon

Leigh wanted to be a vet for as long as she can remember.

On a careers form when she was 11, Leigh wrote that she wanted to be a :- 1. Vegetarian (It was meant to say Veterinarian)

2. Opera singer.

Leigh left Mitchelton High School in 1982, completed a Bachelor of Science in 1985 (Majoring in parasitology & zoology) and after another 5 years, in 1990, graduated with a

Veterinary Science Degree at The University of Queensland.

The following April Leigh commenced employment at Samford Valley Veterinary Hospital with Dr Brian Sheahan when Samford still had a significant dairy community. As the

community changed her interest in small animal surgery and medicine grew, and in 1999 she became a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, with special interest in

canine and feline medicine.

Leigh feels privileged to have worked in such a warm caring community for all these years and adores all of her patients.

Leigh’s hobbies are: 1. Dressing up her brother’s Staffy, “Georgie” (She loves it!…. really she does)

2. Fashion – She wear her uniform everywhere

3. Sport– She regularly walks from the office to her consult room and back again

Paula Williams

Paula decided she wanted to be a vet at 8 years old as a result of growing up on a farm in England surrounded by animals. She qualified from Liverpool University in 1993 and went

straight into equine practice.

Paula came to Australia in 2002 to work a stud season for 6 months and ended up getting stuck here because of the great climate and lifestyle! She worked at Oakey Veterinary

Hospital for 6 years and came to settle here in Samford in 2008.

Her professional interests include the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in the equine athlete, skin conditions, foals, wounds and internal medicine. Paula has a

reputation for liking her diagnostic toys so don’t be surprised if she offers to X ray, scan and endoscope your horse!

Paula also has an interest in the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries in the equine athlete and likes to use a team approach involving veterinary surgeon, farrier and

physiotherapist to tailor a programme specific to your horse’s individual requirements.

In her free time she is a part time mermaid with a passion for scuba diving and marine wildlife (particularly turtles), and has also been known in the past to actually ride horses

too!

Dr Helen Wilson

Helen’s childhood was littered with all sorts of animals, but especially her family’s cocker spaniels. It was looking after them and the horses that gave her a real connection with

animals.

Helen graduated from the University of Queensland Veterinarian program in 2009 and was ready to take on the world. In January 2010 she started at Samford Valley Veterinary

Hospital.

When Helen is not here at Samford saving all your beloved animals you can often find her riding horses, speed reading any and every book known to man or going for the occasional

kayak.

Michelle

Like many young girls, the only thing Michelle ever dreamed of doing when she ‘grew up’ was being a vet.

She had the privilege of growing up in the beautiful Samford Valley, being kept busy by a variety of animals, ranging from mice and fish to dogs and sheep. Attending both primary

school and high school locally she was delighted to be accepted into the University of Queensland in 2007. After a tough but very enjoyable five years, graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 2011. For the last 3 years of her degree she worked part-time at the Samford Valley Veterinary Hospital, and it was this which reinforced her passion to work

with animals of all kinds.

In 2012 Michelle started as a mixed animal veterinarian. Her special interests lie in small animal medicine. During her spare time she enjoys cooking, photography and playing netball.

Wil

Wil was 13 when he decided that he wanted to become a vet. He was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Wil studied at Edinburgh University and worked in Wales and Northern Ireland for a number of years before he and his family to emigrate to New Zealand, where he worked in small

animal practice for 7 years.

The Christchurch earthquake caused him to change direction yet again and he started looking across the “ Tasman”. Wil started work with us here at Samford Valley Veterinary Hospital

December in 2011.

Wil’s main interest is small animal surgery, especially orthopedics, his hobbies include riding/ repairing motorcycles and kayaking.

Erin

For as long as Erin can remember, she wanted to care for animals she needed to when growing up in Toowoomba as she kept everything from mice and rats, to dogs, cats and

horses. After completing her schooling in Brisbane, she ventured off to South Carolina, USA, to enjoy a year riding horses and working in a hunter/showjumper barn. Travelling enabled her to gain many experiences, and helped her focus on completing her veterinary science

degree after returning to Australia.

In December 2007, Erin graduated from the University of Queensland with first class honours in Bachelor of Veterinary Science. She is now settled in the gorgeous Samford region with her husband, daughter and pets ‘Scout’ and ‘Pete’, cat ‘Sully’ and in the back paddock is

“Daddy Cool”.