Our Small Friends Family
Small Friends is a team-oriented, friendly working environment, with every person’s role valued and understood by others. Our vets believe that by having well-respected and happy staff, this translates into a happy and friendly place for you and your small friend to visit. Here are the faces of our small friends family that you’ll meet and who take care of your small friends. You can click on “Read Bio” to read their stories.
Meet the Team
Veterinarians
Dr Mathew
BVSc MACVSc
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Matt is a veterinarian who enjoys the variety and relationships that come with general practice. He finds great satisfaction in helping families navigate the care of their much-loved pets, and aims to be a calm, honest, and supportive presence throughout every stage of a pet’s life.
He graduated from the University of Sydney in 1996 and later completed further qualifications in small animal medicine. In 2004, he established the Small Friends, inspired by his miniature schnauzer Gerald, who continues to hold a special place in its story.
Outside of work, Matt enjoys travel, playing piano, and spending time with his four boys.
Dr Cormac
Qualifications
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Dr Cormac joined the team in 2024. Originally from New Zealand, he has over a decade of experience as a veterinarian. Much of his early career was spent working with farm animals before moving into companion animal practice six years ago. While he still misses working with cows, he’s always had a soft spot for cats and dogs and enjoys the more personal side of caring for pets and their families.
Outside of work, Cormac enjoys staying active outdoors and spending time with his family and his cat, Toothless.
Dr Isabelle
Qualifications
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Bio coming soon.
Nurses
Valerie
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Valerie has loved and owned animals her whole life and decided from a very young age that she wanted to have a career with animals. During college, she did work experience here at Small Friends Vet, and in 2017, she enrolled in the Certificate IV in Vet Nursing at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Valerie got her job here at Small Friends Vet while she was still studying, and has been here ever since!
Throughout her childhood, she had rabbits, chickens, a bird, fish, mice and rats. Despite her and her sisters’ desperate efforts, they never had a dog or a cat. That is, until 2013, when her family (finally!) decided to adopt a border collie named Misty. She was the greatest addition to the family.
In 2018, her partner, Austin, and she moved in together and adopted a mini lop rabbit, whom they named Alfie. Soon after, they adopted a bunny friend for him, named Aiko. She lived a good life and was great friends with Alfie, but she developed a lot of complications with her tummy/gut and is unfortunately no longer with us. Alfie is strictly an indoor rabbit, and he has access to (almost) Valerie’s entire house when supervised.
In 2022, Austin and Valerie decided they really wanted to adopt a rescue dog, but found it hard to come across a dog with a good temperament to live with pocket pets. That is, until they came across Sandy, a wolfhound X. She is possibly the strangest and funniest dog they have ever met, and she certainly keeps them on their toes with her odd behaviours, but she has a lovely gentle temperament and fits right in with Valerie’s family.
She also has chickens! 3 – Nancy (isa brown hen), Tracey, and Edna (polish hens).
Valerie was born and raised in Canberra, but her family travels back to Switzerland every so often to visit her family who live there. Some of her hobbies include sewing and knitting, travelling, hiking, and photography.
In 2022, Valerie enrolled in a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology at Charles Sturt University, which she has been doing part-time. Valerie has loved working as a veterinary nurse at Small Friends Vet, saying it’s rewarding and always interesting, with something new every day to look forward to.
Josie
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Josie’s family has lived in Canberra since she was 10, and they’ve loved it so much that they’re all still there.
Animals have always been a huge part of Josie’s life. Her family has always had a menagerie of small companions, but their truest loves have always been their dogs; they are definitely “dog people.”
Josie grew up with a dog called Mishka, a Border Collie adopted from the RSPCA when she was just six months old. She was the classic ‘girl’s best friend’, loving, gentle, and endlessly patient… even when Josie stuck her little fingers up her nose.
Pheanie, Josie’s beautiful Cattle Dog X, came into her life in 2007 after months of begging her parents for a companion. She quickly became so much more than that; she was a best friend not just to Josie, but to the whole family.
Pheanie was the catalyst for Josie’s career as a veterinary nurse. During her teenage years, she was unwell and housebound for some time, and bringing Pheanie into her life helped her find her way back. Caring for her gave her strength, purpose, and motivation to move forward. After recovering, Josie knew vet nursing was exactly where she belonged, she wanted to help care for other people’s “Pheanie,” just as she cared for her own.
Pheanie is no longer with them, but her spirit and the drive she instilled in Josie live on. When the time is right, their family will find their next furry love.
Josie has been a member of the Small Friends team since 2011. This was actually her very first job. It’s where she completed her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing and learned the skills of her trade. She plans to stay for as long as they’ll have her.
Since then, Josie has also started a family with her husband, Trev, and they now have a little boy who keeps them very busy.
When she’s not at work, you’ll find Josie working on a crochet project, diving into a good book, binge-watching sci-fi and fantasy shows, or unwinding with some computer gaming.
Tara
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ara has had a lifelong passion for animals and always envisioned a career working with them. Raised in Murrumbateman, she grew up caring for two rescue cats, Midnight and Melvin, who were adopted from the RSPCA, as well as a horse named Cherry. While Midnight and Cherry have since passed, Melvin is now 16 years old and continues to thrive at home with Tara. Tara joined Small Friends Vet in August 2015 and she has completed her Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing. She is dedicated to her role and values the opportunity to care for patients while building strong relationships with clients. Over the years, Tara has welcomed a number of animals into her family, including five dogs—Tigga, Duke, Nala, Bear, and Beans—two cats, Oreo and Phineas, and a lovebird named Mango who she adopted from one of our Small Friends clients. In December 2025, Tara sadly said goodbye to her first dog, Duke, after a wonderful 12 years. In 2021, Tara and her husband, Matt, started their human family. They enjoy spending their free time with their two daughters and the many animals on their property in Good Hope. Whenever possible, they enjoy going camping and fishing together, as well as spending time at their family’s coastal home in Tomakin with their four dogs.
Jodie
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Jodie has always loved caring for and looking after animals her whole life. When she was 3 years old, her parents decided to move out of the Canberra suburbs and buy their now 20-acre farm just outside of Canberra. She has grown up around cows, sheep, chickens and of course, dogs.
Her family adopted her first kelpie, Rocky, when she was 3, and from the get-go, they were inseparable. Wherever she was, he would follow, and she would follow him in return. They were best of buds until the day he passed. Her love for animals started with the love she had for her dog Rocky.
Fast forward to today, she now has two kelpies, surprise surprise. One female dog, Nala, also known as rat queen Nala, and one male dog, Bobby, also known as “hey stop that.”
Jodie started working at Small Friends in early 2019 as a trainee vet nurse and became fully qualified at the end of the year. In 2022, she decided to go back to studying and started a Bachelor of Veterinary Technology at university to further her knowledge of veterinary medicine. It is now coming up to five years of working at Small Friends.
Working at Small Friends is rewarding and joyful. She looks forward to coming to work every day and seeing her friends.