LUMEN Summer 2020 - Flipbook - Page 11
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Dr Liberty Hogg
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David Bowley
Dr Liberty Hogg
Veterinarian, Kangaroo Island
Veterinary Clinic
As Kangaroo Island grappled with volatile
weather conditions and out-of-control bushfires,
newcomer Dr Liberty Hogg played her part in
helping to move, treat and euthanise livestock.
The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate
had relocated to the Island in July 2019 to be with
her partner Peter and work as a vet at Kangaroo
Island’s only veterinary clinic.
Less than six months later, when the blazes first
broke out in mid-December 2019, Liberty was
quick to get involved.
On Christmas Day, this meant putting out fires
on a nearby farm. By early-January, she spent
14-hour days in the vet clinic and attending
affected farms.
Equipped with a wealth of large-animal expertise,
a firearms licence and experience treating animals
in the 2015 Pinery bushfire, her unique skillset
was an asset to the Island’s quiet sufferers:
the farmers.
“They’re the last people to ask for help. They
suffer in silence and keep on keeping on,”
Liberty explained.
In the immediate aftermath of the bushfires,
Liberty accompanied farmers as they returned to
their properties for the first time to “identify what
would survive, and what wouldn’t or wasn’t fair
to survive because of immense suffering.”
When it came to the latter, the number of
casualties climbed well into the thousands.
“Being able to euthanise the stock as soon as
possible, effectively and humanely, needed to
be done and I was glad that I could help to do it
properly,” she said.
When Liberty left her home that Thursday, it
was her third evacuation. But this time she “had a
gut feeling”.
At 3 am, 18 hours after evacuating, “the sky was
orange”. And by the time Liberty and her partner
returned to their home, it had perished along with
everything inside.
“You don’t realise how much you take your
possessions for granted until you don't have them
anymore,” she said.
Despite this, the Kangaroo Island new recruit
plans to stick around.
“If the clinic hasn’t been too financially impacted
by the fires, it will still hopefully continue to
support the number of vets that we do have, so
my plan long-term is to stay here, live here and
be part of the community,” she said.
“We’re hoping for the best, planning for the
worst. But I think everything will be okay. Thank
you to everyone who has supported us through
this, we are beyond grateful and lucky to have
each other.”
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2020
9
