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Community vet Dr Tanya Carter believes that running a small local practice can be beautiful and rewarding. By Lynne Testoni
Ambition is very personal. For some, it is to run a big business or become well-known. For others such as community-based veterinarian Dr Tanya Carter, it is simply to make a difference to your patients and connect with your local community.
Dr Carter has been in her community in Sydney’s Haberfield, serving as the local vet for 50 years—and she couldn’t be happier.
Her practice, Haberfield Veterinary Hospital, is relatively small—just three vets plus one who works mostly on Sundays—but the focus has always been on being part of the local community by serving the animals and their owners.
In 2025, Dr Carter was the recipient of the Veterinary Practitioners Board of NSW’s Centenary One Welfare Award, established in 2024 to mark 100 years since the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1923 formalised veterinary registration in NSW.
Honoured for establishing and successfully managing a community-orientated veterinary practice, Dr Carter is the current president of the AVA’s Australian Veterinary Conservation Biology (AVCB) group (having previously served as president of its Australian Veterinarians for Animal Welfare and Ethics group), has attained post-graduate qualifications, and published in animal welfare, ethics and law.
She originally established the practice when she had her children, pivoting from veterinary research—her original research on kangaroos was published in Nature—to a more family-friendly career. She says she’s always prioritised balancing the care of her patients with the demands of her family, which now includes grandchildren.
“I set up the practice when my eldest of four children was a few months old because I wanted somewhere where I could work and look after children,” she says. “I set my working hours to fit in with children.”
This philosophy continues to the present day and explains why she doesn’t take appointments at the practice, preferring a drop-in system, which allows her to manage her practice hours to suit family commitments. “It’s very much geared towards family, but also looking after the community,” Dr Carter explains.
“People appreciate that. As a community vet, you get to know people over a period of time. Being a valued member of the community really gives you a great deal of personal satisfaction.
“Vets don’t just look after the animal; they’re a shoulder to cry on,” she adds. “The role of the vet was never just about looking after the animal in front of them. People come in and will chat for half an hour about all kinds of inconsequential stuff. And then you say, ‘Well, what’s wrong with your dog?’ I think that’s really important, and I’m a great believer in the idea of vets caring for the animal, owners and the environment.”
Dr Carter says that she enjoys the opportunity to educate clients about preventive health and environmental issues because of the personal connection she has with her patients.
I set up the practice when my eldest of four children was a few months old because I wanted somewhere where I could work and look after children. I set my working hours to fit in with children.
Dr Tanya Carter, founder, Haberfield Veterinary Hospital
“I think this sort of work generates trust,” she explains. “We often underplay the role of the community vet in looking after the environment and looking after people. It’s special—you are connected and they trust you. If you talk to them about things such as parasiticides and the environment, for instance, then they’ll take notice of you.”
Under her married name Tanya Stephens, Dr Carter has published two books. One Welfare in Practice: The Role of the Veterinarian highlights the role of veterinarians in big issues like the wildlife trade, land clearing, working animals, climate change, and pest animal control. Her latest book, Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas: Provocative Reflections on Clinical Practice (edited with Eddie Clutton, Polly Taylor and Kathy Murphy), examines contemporary veterinary practice and reflects on changes in the profession.
Her international contribution to the profession was recognised when she was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2020.
“I believe it is important for the profession to do some self-reflection which was the impetus for producing this book,” she says.
Dr Carter is also a strong advocate for delivering evidence-based medicine and says that all her staff practise accordingly.
“I’ve been very active in the field of evidence-based medicine for a long time,” she says. “That’s how I run the practice. We don’t promote or do anything without evidence. We don’t sell or promote supplements or any form of alternative medicine.
“Clients come to me and they say they like that. They know we are honest and straightforward and don’t want to do tests that we know are not necessary. I’m community based with a commitment to professional ethics and evidence-based medicine.
“One of the things I do—and I learned this from the first vet I worked for after I graduated—is I give my vets autonomy. They have total autonomy over what they charge people and what they do. I’m very fortunate to have wonderful long-term staff.”
In 50 years of practice, Dr Carter has seen many changes in veterinary work, including better preventive medicine, newer medicines and newer techniques, but she says the biggest change is the growth in specialists and the provision of after-hours care.
When she started her practice, she says she saw a greater variety of work and recalls that community vets, even those straight out of university, were expected to do everything.
And while she acknowledges that people’s attitudes to their pets has evolved somewhat—“nothing sleeps in a kennel anymore”—she says that people have always been fond of their pets and wanted the best for them. “There has been some change, but I think that people were always keen to do the right thing by their animals 50 years ago, and this has not changed.”
