SAVIOUR SURGEON BATTLES EXTINCTION CRISIS
October 2020
It’s early on a rainy Saturday morning and Dr Howard Ralph is already at work. He has a long list of patients to treat at his veterinary clinic for native animals. Southern Cross Wildlife Care is on a remote property about an hour from Canberra. It’s surrounded by bush and on the outside it’s an old shearing shed. On the inside it’s a vet clinic where thousands of animals are saved every year. Dr Ralph works here seven days a week and has done for the better part of four decades.
“I believe that we are one of many other living creatures and we all deserve equal respect and I’ve never ever believed that we should be treated in a manner that the others can’t access,” Dr Ralph said.
Dr Ralph’s commitment to Australia’s native animals is evident in the way he treats them. Not just as a vet, but philosophically, too. He says hello to them when they enter his clinic, he explains the treatment they’ll receive, and he reassures them they’ll be ok. He is softly spoken and gentle, but most of all he is respectful.
“wildlife […] are living sentient beings and they do feel pain and they do suffer, and they do need attention,” he said.
To say Dr Ralph knows the pain and suffering of wildlife is an understatement. He feels it. He’s treated injuries caused by cars and shootings, violent attacks where people have kicked animals and hit them with lead pipes. He has even removed an axe from a kangaroo’s head.
“I get upset every day, every ten minutes I get upset because I see this terrible stuff coming through the door and I guess every night I have a bit of a weep,” Dr Ralph said.
In the past twelve months wildlife have survived drought, fires, heavy smoke, and floods. Not to mention the estimated four million mammals that are killed on Australian roads every year. Dr Ralph knows Australia is staring down the barrel of extinction. But no one seems to care.
“Dogs get treated, horses get treated, […] and wildlife are somehow over there but they’re not really, they’re over here and they need to be treated with respect,” he said.
Dr Ralph and his wife Glenda fund their free service with the money they earn in their day jobs. He works as a surgeon treating people, while Glenda is a physiotherapist and a nurse. They have a team of vet nurses who all volunteer. One nurse says she won’t work anywhere else because Dr Ralph’s skills and work ethic are unmatched.
Watching Dr Ralph, it’s easy to see what she means. He is no doubt a skilful surgeon. He cares for his patients much the same way a family GP would treat a small child. He introduces himself. He allows them time to process the situation. He sooths them and ensures any pain inflicted is minimal and done with compassion.
Wildlife carers drive hundreds of kilometres across NSW to see him because they know where other vets euthanise, Dr Ralph will treat. But for all his efforts, he knows unless Australians’ indifference of wildlife changes, the animals we proudly show to the world face a tough battle for survival.
“We’re losing species all the time and we’re losing habitat all the time. I guess they (Australians) need to, first of all take it seriously, as species, they need to take it seriously as individuals. They (wildlife) do suffer accordingly and they suffer from inadequate attention to their preservation,” Dr Ralph said.
He says the time to care is now.