From North England to North Australia: How Susan found HPHH

Susan grew up in North-East England, which you might have guessed if you’ve ever heard her accent, before moving to Mackay in 2011. Her family - including her brother and her parents - moved to Australia to join her in the warm weather.

Before moving to Australia, Susan worked in animal care and behaviour/training. Prior to joining Happy Paws Happy Hearts (HPHH) in Mackay as our Senior Program Trainer, Susan managed RSPCA Mackay for 8 years.

When Susan heard about HPHH launching in Mackay, she quickly realised she wanted to be a part of the team and help the organisation grow.

“This really is the perfect role [for me], working with people and animals in the local community,” Susan says.

Joining the HPHH Mackay team in November 2022, Susan has had many memorable moments with us. Her favourite part of working at HPHH is interacting with the animals daily and seeing the joy they bring to our participants.

“I love seeing the changes with participants; seeing them go from shy and not wanting to join in, to bursting through the door to tell me about their week or an animal,” she says.

Susan loves dogs, as she has worked with them the most, but she also loves small animals like rats and guinea pigs. She is currently learning Auslan, or Australian sign language, and she is loving it.

If Susan could be any animal, she says she would be a cat: “I love that they can just spend hours sleeping...”

When she’s not at work, you can usually find Susan getting out into nature with her family, going on park walks or beach trips. If she could visit any fictional place, it would be Hogwarts, and she loves a Nice Chai as a special treat (but she usually just drinks coffee).