Dr Peter Clancy is one of the partners in Peninsula Vet Care and works at all of our branches at times, depending on who is on holidays. Peter also takes care of much of the management side of the business.

Dr Peter Clancy graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1977. He initially worked in mixed practice in Ballarat and Dandenong. Peter then travelled to England to work for a year and brought back something unexpected – a wife! On his return to Australia he worked in equine practice in Mordialloc for two years before joining Dr Andrew Trezise at Dromana back when it was a single vet practice. He became a partner in the practice in February 1983 and for many years did most of the equine and cattle work the clinic dealt with.

Unfortunately for Peter, Peninsula Vet Care no longer carries out equine or cattle work due to the busy nature of the small animal business and the declining number of large animals on the Peninsula. Peter has taken over much of the business management as the group has expanded and he continues to see small animals for appointments and surgery. His gentle, chatty manner makes him a longtime favourite with our clients.

Outside of work Peter and his wife Joy breed their Golden Retriever (now retired) and Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Peter also enjoys cycling and travelling around Australia with his family in their camper trailer. Peter has three children – Bethany, David and Luke – who are a constant challenge and joy!

Dr Stacey Lethlean works part time at the Rye Beach and Rosebud clinics. Stacey speaks Greek, which is a great help for our Greek-speaking customers.

Dr Stacey Lethlean graduated from the University of Melbourne in the same year as her husband, Dr Mark Lethlean of our East Mornington Clinic. She was one of the original veterinarians at the Pearcedale Animal Aid and has been working at the Rosebud Clinic since 1995. She is at Rosebud Veterinary Clinic every second Saturday and at Rye Beach Vet Hopsital every Monday.

Stacey and Mark enjoy travelling around Austraila camping, surfing and fishing with their family. They have two daughters, a Jack Russel terrier Trudi, Delilah the cat adopted from the Rosebud Cat Adoption Centre as a sickly kitten (she is quite healthy now) and Fluffy the green tree frog who hitched a ride from Queensland on the bottom of a customer's car.

Stacey has a great sense of humour and easygoing nature that makes her popular with both pets and thier owners.

Dr Nichola Richards is consulting at our Rosebud, East Mornington and Rye Beach Hospitals. Her interest is ophthalmology.

Dr Nichola Richards graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1999 and started her veterinary career working in mixed animal practice in the Yarra Valley. She was enticed to the Mornington Peninsula and made the switch to companion animal practice in 2002.

Nichola has a interest in ophthalmology and small animal medicine. She completed a postgraduate course in ophthalmology in 2006 and has since helped many of our client's pet's eye complaints at all of our hospitals. In many cases this has meant that they have not had to travel to Melbourne for a specialist opinion – much to everyone's relief.

Nichola lives in Rosebud with her husband and their furry family – Abby the kelpie and their cat Splotch. All the pets keep Nichola up-to-date with urinary tract disease issues on a regular basis.

Nichola has two children – Tasman and Harriett. She is now back part time from January 2011.

Dr John Willems is the senior veterinarian and practice partner at the Rye Beach Vet Hospital. John's interest is small animal surgery.

Dr John Willems grew up in Drouin on a dairy farm. He attended Melbourne High School and completed his veterinary science degree with honours at the University of Melbourne in 1994. John's first veterinary job was in Foster at a dairy practice but after 14 months his aching back and the lack of professional satisfaction dealing with purely financial contraints in dairy practice prompted a change of career path. John then spent 18 months working in England in mixed practice but with a companion animal focus.

On returning to Australia John continued this type of work by joining our Dromana Vet Hospital team in 1996. In 2000 Peninsula Vet Care stopped seeing farm animals but by then John's interests were firmly focused on companion animals. In 2006 John opened the Rye Beach Vet Hospital as an expansion of the Peninsula Vet Care group.

John lives in McCrae with his wife, Dr Jodi Vermaas, of our Rosebud clinic. John's life is shared with two Burmese cats, Hugo and Stella, and the Border Terrier, Gerti . His interests outside of work include his vegie garden, cycling, bushwalking and the environment. John has been a volunteer in third world country street dog programs in India in 2005, in the Cook Islands in 2008 and in India and Bali in 2010.

John has completed postgraduate training in small animal surgery and is a highly proficient surgeon. We often send those more difficult surgical patients to John from our other hospitals, so you can be assured your pet will be in the best possible hands.

John's gentle and compassionate approach is appreciated by pets and the owners alike.

Melinda is originally from Cape Barren Island in Tasmania but moved to the Mornington Peninsula in 2008 with her partner Jhay. Melinda studied commerce at University while running a cleaning business in Rye, but always knew her true calling was in animal care.

Melinda joined the Rye Beach team as it expanded in 2010 as a trainee veterinary nurse.

Mel has a labrador cross called Ella, a Siamese fighting fish called Nori and has taken on a Briman called Frank from our feline adoption center.

Mel has a interest in animal behaviour and husbandry and will be running the puppy school at Rye Beach from 2011.

She will also be studying for her certificate 4 in Veterinary Nursing from 2011.

Melinda has an infectious laugh and great customer service manner.