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When Dr Fauve Buckley took on the role of the senior veterinarian at RSPCA South Australia, she found her dream job. By Kerryn Ramsey
Taking on the senior veterinarian position at RSPCA SA last October was a heavy responsibility for a vet who only graduated five years previously, but Dr Fauve Buckley’s passion for animal care led her to embrace the role. She knew she could make a difference.
“I was fortunate to have the support of the management team behind me. They’ve been incredibly patient while I’ve found my feet.”
New premises
Dr Buckley has joined at a pivotal point for RSPCA SA, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. The organisation moved into its new home at O’Halloran Hill in May, a $28-million complex with domestic animal care facilities, space for welfare education and the state’s first dedicated wildlife hospital.
“Our previous shelter at Lonsdale was a rabbit warren of portable buildings,” says Dr Buckley. “The surgery was in a little building that used to be a living room in a house. Everyone did the very best they could at Lonsdale but now we can maximise our care.”
The original facility had two prep tables and two surgical tables. The new centre has two dental tables, six surgery tables, and three prep tables.
Presently, staff and management are in the process of getting the domestic animal operation up and running. They’re doing a full surgery load and working their way through the backlog of animals in need. The wildlife hospital will open soon, taking some of the pressure off the small number of wildlife vets in Adelaide who take in animals from an army of dedicated volunteer wildlife rescuers.
“We will be a comprehensive additional resource to support these rescuers, who do incredible work every day,” says Dr Buckley. “Wildlife care is new for us, so our vet team has trained with the team at RSPCA in Queensland, where they’ve run a wildlife hospital since 2012, and we hope to do more training with them in the future.”
Road to care
After Dr Buckley graduated from Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, NSW, in 2019, she headed back to her home state of South Australia. Despite coming from a background in cattle and conviction that she would never be a cat and dog vet, she slipped into small animal work. After talking with a few nurses and vets who also worked at the RSPCA, she was inspired to pay a visit to the RSPCA shelter. It was a life-changing decision. Dr Buckley started as a casual in July 2023 before being offered a full-time position as the senior vet last October.
It’s the first job I’ve had where I can make a real difference. There’s nothing better than coming to work, knowing you’re helping animals in dire need. To be perfectly honest, I consider my job to be the best thing since sliced bread.
Dr Fauve Buckley, senior veterinarian, RSPCA SA
“Shelter medicine was never on my radar, but I fell in love with it,” says Dr Buckley.
One of the vet team’s goals is to increase awareness and education of vet students. The new facility has the space to host vet students, helping them gain experience. They can then move into general practice with more confidence and a better understanding of procedures.
“It’s important to make students aware of what we do on a day-to-day basis and what struggles we face,” says Dr Buckley. “I want everyone to understand the challenges we face and what we’re trying to achieve. The animals we work with are not always new and shiny, but they are still perfectly adoptable.”
Wildlife rescue
RSPCA SA has close relationships with wildlife rescue groups through its own rescue team and Dr Buckley hopes to further that connection. The new wildlife hospital is slated to open in late 2024 and interaction with wildlife carer groups is essential for achieving positive outcomes for rescued native animals and birds. Traditionally, when the RSPCA team is presented with injured wildlife, they transfer them to the best vet or best resource that can rehabilitate the animal. If and when it’s appropriate, they are then returned to their natural habitat.
“When our wildlife hospital opens, we’ll fit into that system by providing wildlife veterinary care,” says Dr Buckley. “The RSPCA has been on the frontlines of disaster relief, such as during the 2020 bushfires that swept across Kangaroo Island. We’re keen to provide a service through our hospital where we can receive animals, triage them, and work out a plan for treatment and rehabilitation. Whenever possible, we’ll then move them to external, experienced rehabilitators who will work to see the animal returned to the wild.”
Another challenge facing RSPCA SA is the limit to the number of animals it can accommodate, both in terms of space and personnel to care for them. Once that limit is reached, they are reliant on their foster caring network. Currently, there are around 300 animals in foster care.
“With the rising cost of living and people’s lifestyles changing, it’s becoming more difficult to find those gems of people who are willing to take animals recovering from injury or illness into their homes,” says Dr Buckley, adding that the organization covers all care costs for fostered animals.
Toll on staff
Working at the RSPCA takes an emotional and mental toll, especially on frontline staff. The nature of the job means they are dealing with animals in extremely poor condition. Often, treatment is simply not an option. In other cases, animals receive extensive treatment yet, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the animal doesn’t make it.
“I’ve seen animals in a state I never imagined,” says Dr Buckley. “Staff in the inspectorate role have to deal with incredibly challenging situations. Likewise, our shelter teams are often faced with cases of neglect and cruelty that are confronting and heartbreaking. These people are passionate about the care of animals and have a high emotional attachment to them. I don’t think there’s one person in our shelter who hasn’t adopted or fostered an animal.”
Across the veterinary profession, burnout is an issue and it’s a major challenge for the RSPCA. It can be extremely taxing for the vet team coming to work, knowing the inspectorate may be delivering animals in a terrible state. The RSPCA has procedures in place to address these issues and works hard to provide a healthy work-life balance.
“I’m probably not the best example of leaving work at work but it’s certainly something I aspire to,” says Dr Buckley. “We’re a close team with a shared passion and our staff retention is high. We organise social events such as Soup Fest where everyone brings in soup, and that definitely helps staff morale. We also attend regular trivia nights run by local rescue groups, that are good natured but very competitive. Among the shelter staff, if one team is struggling, other teams are there to help out and do what they can.”
Challenge of the future
According to Dr Buckley, the biggest challenge facing RSPCA SA is the increasing need for assistance to animals. Frequently, the cost of living combined with a shortage of pet-friendly rental accommodation is seeing people move on, unable to take their animals with them. The RSPCA inspectorate is delivering greater numbers of animals to RSPCA facilities. “We are seeing more and more animals that need to come into our care, and the number of animals we can house and treat is being exceeded; it’s a daily challenge trying to keep up with the demand.”
Despite the challenges, the heartbreak and the emotional toll, Dr Buckley loves her role. “It’s the first job I’ve had where I can make a real difference,” she says. “There’s nothing better than coming to work, knowing you’re helping animals in dire need. To be perfectly honest, I consider my job to be the best thing since sliced bread.”
