Vet Danielle Greenburg has been treating animals for 20 years and after becoming disillusioned with the way practices are becoming more corporate, she decided to open her own independent surgery in the heart of Liverpool’s Creative district.
Dr Greenburg is passionate about her job and was determined to open a proper local community practice in her home city of Liverpool.
Her dream came true in November 2018 when The Liverpool Vets in the Baltic Triangle opened its doors for the first time – and her main aim is to focus on the community aspect of treating her patients.
She said:
“There’s a brilliant community in this area. I hadn’t quite banked on how lovely it is, the community that exists here is brilliant.
“I think it’s really lovely how some Liverpudlians refer to their pets as ‘babies’, it’s lovely to see how pets are classed as members of the family.”
Despite being daunted about setting up on her own for the first time, Danielle hasn’t looked back and is relishing the challenge of running her own business.
She added: “It’s possibly one of the scariest things I’ve ever done!
“But I feel so passionately about the city, and the changes in the veterinary profession with everything becoming more corporate I wanted to be independent, very community-focused and city-focused, that’s why I decided about 2-3 years ago to set up my own practice.”
Becoming a Vet and opening up an independent Practice
Danielle knew from an early age that she wanted to be a vet: “It’s one of those classic vet stories, I grew up in Liverpool, we had a family dog but I just always wanted to do it, I can’t explain why…it was either a becoming a vet or being in Destiny’s Child.”
Since the practice opened, they have already had several unusual visitors – including an injured snake.
“We’ve also had a visit from a Python who burnt his underbelly on his heat-mat, the owner came from Runcorn as she’d been unable to find a vet who would see him…we were able to bathe off the damaged skin and apply burn cream to help heal the injuries.”
And they were even treating patients before the practice officially opened: “Well, just before we were due to open the practice a client got in contact as her dog had eaten a full pack of chocolate biscuits, but although we weren’t open, luckily, we had the medication to help the dog and prevented him from becoming really ill.”
Another patient of The Liverpool Vets is the Instagram famous Cockapoo Marley!
Three Seasons of Animal Hospital
Not only has Danielle established a pristine Veterinary career, she also appeared on three seasons of ‘Animal Hospital’.
Curiously asking how she ended up working on a TV programme, she said: “It’s a funny story, I was working in York but missing home, and this job came up in Manchester at the RSPCA, and at the end of the interview, the manager said…‘right you’ve got the job, but how do you feel about being on television’…and that’s how it came about…
“But the day I started, was the day Animal Hospital (out of London) started, and none of us knew each other but because of this we all bonded together.
“It was great everything was filmed in the hospital, edited in the hospital and the first season even won a BAFTA, we just showed them everything…the blood, the guts, the tears, the happiness, just raw emotion which came across well.”
Employing the best people
Although, Danielle explained how she wouldn’t have been able to open the vets without the help of Head Nurse, Brett Donnelly.
Speaking to Brett, he explained his journey to becoming a veterinary nurse: “I have always had a passion for animals and when I was 12, I started working with horses, so that’s how I came into animals, also having animals when I was younger.
“When I was older, I started seeing practice when I was 16, and then went to Myerscough College to study veterinary nursing at degree level when I was 18 to further to my studies as part of the course I was always going on placements in veterinary practices.”
He met Danielle whilst she was locuming for a corporate practice, and they formed a close friendship before becoming colleagues at the new practice: “She helped me caring for the animals and running the practice and I helped her…we calm each other down.
“Then when Danielle was opening the practice, I rang her, and went through all the proper channels of applying and interviews, things like that, and then she offered me the job…I burst into tears I was so happy.”
He also explained the role of a veterinary nurse: “We do a lot of things, we are here to help the patients and the veterinary surgeon provide care for pets.
“So I know all the rules and regulations from the Royal College, I know the book of by heart know for the veterinary standards and the nurses’ standards which has helped with the set-up of the practice.
“Within the guidelines, we can see patients but not diagnose and we can’t enter a body cavity, but we can undertake different tasks within the veterinary surgeons act as long as it is under the instruction of a veterinary surgeon.
“We are allowed to carry out minor surgery too but am yet to do this as often we are assisting the vet while they carry out the surgery.”
So, if you’ve got a poorly pooch or queasy cat head down to The Liverpool Vets!
