Oisín Tracey (@pawsomedoctor on Instagram) is a 30 year-old Dubliner who moved to Australia two years ago with his then partner, having just qualified as a vet from UCD. Since he moved to Perth, he has been rescuing wild animals, supporting LGBT+ rights in Ireland and Australia. He has met the President of Ireland, gained nearly 50k followers on Instagram and even done a nude photo shoot with the one and only Panti Bliss!
Oisín has the cutest pictures on his Instagram feed. You can find everything from tiny bats to giant kangaroos.
Oisín arrived in Perth in a better situation than most. He left Ireland with a job lined up at Perth Vet Emergency – an emergency and critical care hospital for small animals – with the possibility of being sponsored for a long-term visa by the business if everything worked out, which it did.
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On a daily basis at the hospital, Oisín mostly deals with household pet emergencies, but one day he was presented with a very different sort of client- a wild falcon. With little prior experience dealing with birds of prey, he had no idea how to treat it.
“It was a combination of ‘Is this animal going to try to kill me, if it is, how is it going to kill me?’ and, also, ‘what’s wrong with this animal, what medications can I give it and what can I do with it?’”
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“I hadn’t a clue. I was cracking every textbook I could find, I was asking people online. I managed to keep it stable overnight and get it to the zoo. The zoo vets took over from there.”
The practice inspired him to become a volunteer with Native Animal Rescue AU, a wildlife rehab centre, where he now helps wild animals and birds of all kinds.
Whether it’s diagnosing an ulcer on an owl’s eye, or cases of bobtail flu amongst the bobcat community, Oisín does what he can for the tiniest to the largest of wild native animals of Western Australia.
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On his personal blog, Oisín talks all about being a vet.
“Veterinary is definitely one of those classic (when I grow up!) professions. However, it is not all cute puppies and kittens. Now, two years after hanging up my student scrubs and putting on my first pair of big boy scrubs, I still have immense love for our profession.”
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“It turns out that a gay guy with cute puppies and kittens on Instagram does pretty well!” said Oisín.
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