Dr Stephen Cutter B.V.Sc(hons)

Principal Veterinarian

Stephen is our head vet and practice principal. Stephen grew up in the Territory but moved to Melbourne with his family as a teenager. After graduating from Melbourne Uni in 1995 he set about returning to the territory. Stephen's main passion was the dog health programs in indigenous communities he established. Initially he migrated backwards and forward between started migrating backwards and forward between the top end and melbourne for a few years. He originally moved to Darwin to work with community dog health programs and his first clinic in Darwin was set up to support that work. The Ark is a result of many changes and was established to get back to that original vision. Stephen is passionate about many different aspect in his work, Wildlife, animal welfare and dog health programs are just some of the areas that Stephen works in on a daily basis.

Stephen is Chairperson of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in the NT. Wildlife Rescue Darwin, PAWS Darwin and the Prison program are all results of the passion he has to achieve changes in the community.

stephen@thearkvet.com

Lisa Hansen 

Lisa and Stephen began working together approximately 5 years ago. They have opened the ark animal hospital yarrawonga and Humpty Doo veterinary clinic. In March 2007 they saw an increasing need to open another organization just committed to animal welfare. This became known as The Ark Animal Welfare Services Limited. An organization encompassing Wildlife Rescue and PAWS Darwin(which is an adoption center for preloved pets) Lisa never without an injured or rescued animal within her care has spent most of her adult life dedicated to animals. The work she does through the animal welfare service is all for non profit and often comes out of her own pocket.
Lisa's favourite animal in her care at the moment is Anthony the Fruit Bat. A young orphaned bat that cries for dummy(a small marsupial teat)when he loses it.

lisa@thearkvet.com

Dr Tom Dunnett Veterinarian

Managing Veterinarian Humpty Doo Clinic

Dr Tom joined the team from the Humpty Doo veterinary Clinic in October 2007. He was originally from New Zealand. Tom's laid back personality and commitment to his job have seen a rapid growth at Humpty Doo Vet Clinic. He is keenly interested in many aspects of Veterinary science and has a growing interest in wildlife and exotic animals. An interesting case he had recently was a blue tongue lizard which had been bitten by a freshwater crocodile. (Both were someone's pet). Tom is also involved in Indigenous dog health programs.
Tom and his wife Susanne have numerous pets including ducks who add excitement to their lives.

Dr. Sarah Renshaw Veterinarian

Veterinarian

Sarah is an excellent and caring veterinarian. Sarah grew up in Darwin and after living/working in the Pilbara and Kakadu has returned to join us. Sarah loves wildlife and orthopaedic surgery.

Dr Marie Montgomery-quin B.Sc. BVMS

Veterinarian

Geraldine 

Veterinary Nurse

Geraldine or "Gee" is an extremely enthusiastic staff member. Gee has a constant stream of babies (orphaned or injured wallabies, possums, birds etc) Gee is very good at caring for them and has now had many grow up and be released back into the wild. (which is a very bitter sweet moment for Geraldine.)
Geraldine's favourite part of being a Veterinary Nurse is assisting the Vets during surgery.

Geraldine@thearkvet.com

Hannah 

Veterinary Nurse

Hannah is an enthusiastic and hardworking member of our team. Hannah's cares for a wide range of orphaned wildlife but possums are her favourite. Hannah has raised 7 possums so far. One of her favourites has been a little fellow that she named George. Hannah also finds the surgeries the best part of her job

Lana  Cert IV Veterinary Nurse, Cert IV in Remedial massage.

Veterinary Nurse

Lana is an extremely enthusiastic staff member. She has a particular passion for the strays, the homeless as well as the extremely sick. She makes it her mission to ensure that the "hopeless cases" have hope.

Renee  

Humpty Doo Vet nurse

Renee is a bright and cheery personality, Renee is passionate about animals and very good at her job. One of her favourite customers is a big boofhead dog who comes to visit the Humpty Doo clinic of his own accord. Daily, he walks in and takes his place at reception (in the aircon) and only goes home after he has had a treat. Renee has her dream dog all picked out and checks the adoption lists daily to see if it has arrived yet.

Caroline Teacher, Veterinary Nurse

Trainer, educator & Vet Nurse

Caroline has recently joined the team at The Ark after initially being a volunteer within the Wildlife Rescue Hospital and a Wildlife Rescue Carer. Caroline is a qualified teacher who now plays an educator role. She runs the Wildlife Rescue training courses and other courses we hold. Caroline also gets to visit schools as part of our pet pep program. Caroline is also studying as a Veterinary Nurse.

Sandy 

Puppy Preschool trainer & PAWS walk coordinator

Sandy is a qualified Veterinary nurse & groomer and dog show judge. Sandy has over 30 years experience in training dogs and is a second generation dog trainer. Sandy is very experienced and is a wealth of knowledge and a great asset to our team.

Geoffrey 

animal care attendant

Geoff has been at the Ark since its opening, He is one of the longest serving employees and has been a great support to the building of the Ark clinics.

Tess Bachelor of Applied science (majoring in wildlife biology)

Wildlife care coordinator & Veterinary Nurse.

Tess is a very experienced wildlife carer and has worked in a number of zoos across Australia and has been a wildlife carer for many years. Tess brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to our wildlife rescue program.

Nicole Cert III in Business Administration

Receptionist

Nicole is the friendly receptionist at The Ark and started working here about 6 months ago. She loves being around people and animals, and wants to help them as much as possible. Nicole has enjoyed caring for wildlife since joining the Ark and has recently released her first possum that she has reared.

Vicki  Studying Certificate II in Animal Studies

PAWS shelter manager & Dog trainer

Vicki joined the Ark team in October 2007, while studying Certificate II in Animals Studies.
Vicky is a dog person but loves cats and rabbits as well. Vicki's main area of interest is in dog training. She likes to be able to see dogs realize their potential. Vicki runs obedience lessons at PAWS every monday evening.
Vicky loves the wide variety of things to do she gets to do working here. She loves working here and likes to hang around with the dogs. Also the team and staff she considers to be awesome.

Vicki has a dog, a cat and a rabbit of her own. She adopted Narla, the dog, and Barry, the cat, from PAWS.

Skye 

Animal Care attendant PAWS

Skye loves taking care of the animals. Skye is hoping to become a vet nurse eventually.
Her favourite animal are dogs and here she gets to work with dogs all day.
She learns something new about them every day.

Brian 

Ark Animal Welfare Director

Rebekah 

Animal Care attendant PAWS

Danica 

Animal Care attendant - PAWS

Priscilla 

Cameron 

Kennel Assistant AWS

Connor Certificate II in Animal Studies

Kennel Assistant

Connor began volunteering with the Ark through his school based training course in May 2007. He showed a keen interest in the Animal Care Industry and began studying his Certificate II in Animal Studies through Katherine Rural College. Connor is now an employee of the Ark Animal Hospital and continues his studies doing Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing along side doing year 12. He hopes to become a Veterinarian and come back and work for the Ark again.
UPDATE: Connor has left us to go to study vet science in Western Australia, he promises he is coming back to work for us once he is a vet!

Kaye