AMELIAH Scott is so well known as The Flying Vet™ that she has earned the right to have that little “trade mark” symbol following the written mention of it.
With a decade of experience and more than 200,000 km covered – in either her Piper Cherokee Arrow or her Toyota Hilux ute – Dr Scott has had to deal with everything from cows giving birth to horses with bad teeth.
“I’m a local to the area so I’ve been working for quite a few years,” said Dr Scott, “mostly servicing larger animals around the Far West.
“I do a monthly run around the district, usually in the early part of a month. I also do booking jobs, normally for station people, flying around doing all kinds of things on properties, from testing rams for bruco (brucellosis) to preg-testing cows, that sort of thing.”
Dr Scott was in Broken Hill last weekend and was happy to report no exotic diseases doing the rounds.
“Not really,” she said. “Mostly it’s just things associated with the dry. Nutrition and managing drought feeding is a big thing on everyone’s agenda right now.
“The recent rain has been good, but you still must grow feed, which doesn’t happen overnight. The temperature’s got to be above 20 degrees to grow grass, so it’s going to be a while before there’s anything to eat.”
A fifth-generation White Cliffs farmer, Dr Scott said few people realise how crucial it is for landholders in remote regions to have ready access to veterinary care.
“They do tend to really care about their animals, she said. “This area doesn’t have a lot of large animal vets other than the DPI people, who are run off their feet and tied up in the logistics of government.”
Not content to be just a farmer, a vet and a pilot, Dr Scott is also an author, her 2023 book The Flying Vet (Harper Collins) having been well received, scoring an admirable four-and-a-half stars from readers on Amazon.
Most importantly, Dr Scott insists that the rumour about vets – that they’re at each other like cats and dogs – is an urban myth.
“I have a good relationship with the vets in Broken Hill,” she said. “We have an understanding.
“As a general rule we’ve all got the same love for animals. We’re the same as doctors – we band together. Part of our code of practice is to get along. Especially out here in the sticks – you kind of do have to get along.
“Otherwise, you’re in big trouble when you need help.”
Visit Dr Scott at theflyingvet.com.au, or call 0408 653 232.
