Both Dr Phil and Dr Pat are Senior Academic Fellows at Melbourne University and we regularly have third and fourth year veterinary students, both from Australia and overseas, doing rotations at our clinic, particularly to learn about veterinary care for birds but also for dogs, cats and pets. See the link Vet Students for further details.
School Involvement - with the chicken VetChicken Vet Melbourne vets give talks to schools at various year levels and participate in career days advising students about careers in veterinary science. We support local schools and kindergartens in fund raising projects We help with school egg laying birds, and give talks to science and biology students about the unique aspects of birds. The aim is to show the importance of appreciating all forms of life including chickens - that are often neglected. The chicken vets purpose of helping at schools is to educate and empower the future leaders . Helping at schools is a not for profit community project.
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Chicken Veterinarian with the students that run the school chicken project.
The Bird Vet - helping sick and injured wildlifeWorking in conjunction with volunteers of Wildlife Rescuers and the Wildlife Care Network, the avian vets treat surrendered sick and injured wild birds for free or substantially reduced fees.
There is little purpose to rehabilitating injured wildlife if concurrent efforts are not made to try to retain and restore wildlife corridors or biolinks and to promote wildlife conservation in schools and local communities. Dr Pat, a bird specialist , has been a long time member of the Wader Study Group, who study and promote conservation of shorebirds along the East Asia Flyway and the group regularly stays at Harewood, her home on Western Port Bay when they are canon netting birds in there. She is also involved with the Cardinia Environment Coalition in trying to promote wildlife corridors along the waterways leading into Westernport Bay.
Saving Bali Starlings and restoring Orangutan forest habitat - Bird Vet InvolvementIndonesia has the second highest number of threatened and endangered bird species in the world (103). Since 2007 Pat has been visiting Indonesia regularly and working with local veterinarians there. The clinic actively supports our colleague Dr Bayu Wirahuydha and the Friends of the National Parks Foundation www.fnpf.org in their efforts to address this huge challenge using a sustainable holistic conservation approach.
Woking with Not for Profits and Rescue Groups
The Bird clinic - Chicken vets are involved with groups like Edgars Mission, and Dreamers Hen rescue.
Working at Edgars mission
Dr Phil helping at Edgars Mission - a wonderful educational farm sanctuary
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Bird Vet Melbourne donated a microscope to Edgars Mission, and Dr Phil is demonstrating the use of the microscope.
Staff at bird vet Melbourne
Dr Philip Sacks Avian VetMACVSc(Avian Medicine and Surgery)
Dr Phil has been seeing bird cases both primary and referral, at bird Vet Melbourne, for over 15 years. He worked with Bird Specialist Dr Pat Macwhirter for 14 years. Dr Phil Loves working with avian patients and is an empathetic caring veterinarian. Dr Phil lists as surgical achievements : a hysterectomy in a 14 gram Zebra Finch, and successfully removed a foreign body from the small intestine of a Rainbow Lorikeet.
More about Dr Phil.
Phil graduated in 1990 from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, after which he worked in a small animal practice until called up for his military service. He served as an army veterinarian (with the rank of lieutenant), treating military dogs and Army horses.
In 1992 he was accepted into a residency program in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pretoria. His duties included teaching the clinical pathology course to final year students as well as attending small animal medicine clinics and running outpatients. In 1997 he graduated with a postgraduate Honours degree in Medicine and Clinical Pathology from the University of Pretoria. He was also invited to become an external examiner overseeing exams for veterinary students at the university.
From 1994 he worked in a private practice in Johannesburg , see birds and other exotics where he also did relief work for the Johannesburg Zoo. The clinic expanded and Phil found himself doing both veterinary dentistry- with animal Dentist Dr Joubert. They set up a referral dental clinic in Parkview. Dr Phil treated exotics pets and birds - Amongst his achievements there he lists three caesarean sections on pet marmosets in one week, as well as root canals on two Siberian Tigers!, caring for a new born Black Rhino abandoned by its mother, and treating an elephant with an orange stuck in its food pipe.
With his background in clinical pathology, Phil set up a veterinary clinical pathology laboratory in 2000.
Because Phil was concerned about increasing crime levels in South Africa, he and his family moved to Australia. On arrival, he did a locum in anaesthetics at the University of Melbourne Veterinary School, then a five-week locum at Gribbles Pathology Laboratory as a veterinary clinical pathologist. A short spell at the Melbourne Animal Emergency Centre followed, before taking up a position at the Burwood Bird & Animal Hospital and later buying into the practice. Phil became a member of the ACVSc (avian veterinarain) by examination in 2003. His other veterinary interests include avian medicine, avian clinical pathology, veterinary dentistry and primate medicine. He has regularly attended Veterinary Conferences in both Australia and North America to keep up to date ,and writes for Talking Birds. and has conducted a basic microscope course for aviculturists. Away from work he jogs, swims and enjoys camping, sunsets and bushwalking. His favourite place in Victoria is Wilsons Prom.
Phil is a Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne faculty of Veterinary Science and is accredited by AQIS (Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service) to prepare animals for export.