Worldwide Tails

Origin Tails

• Kristin Hammond & Jess Walsh • Season 1 • Episode 2

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How does one moment spark a global movement?

In this powerful opening episode, we interview Dr. Gemma Campling, the founder and CEO of Worldwide Vets. She shares the story that changed everything — from finding an injured dog in a remote Himalayan village to launching a nonprofit that now serves animals across more than 10 countries.

It’s raw, inspiring, and the perfect place to begin.

You can also watch the full interview on our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@worldwide_vets


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SPEAKER_01

If you want to dive under the skin of a country, if you want to feel part of a family, to arrive somewhere and be part of a team that's doing something it's the most fantastic way.

Introduction

Bio: Dr. Gemma Campling

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Worldwide Tales, the podcast where real stories, real animals and real impact come together. We will be your hosts, I'm Jess and I'm Kristen. We're both fundraising interns with Worldwide Vets and this season we're bringing you behind the scenes of global animal welfare and conservation projects that are changing lives, human and animal life. Before we jump in, a little about us. Kristen and I joined Worldwide Vets because we are passionate about creating real change for animals across the world and this podcast is our way of connecting you to that impact. Whether you're a vet student, an animal lover, or someone looking to make a difference, we promise you these stories will inspire, challenge, and move you. We've got some pretty unforgettable moments ahead. To kick things off, we wanted to go back to the beginning to understand how World Wide Vets started and why. So before we dive into today's interview, we want to just take the time to introduce someone who's at the heart of everything that you'll hear on this podcast. Someone who turned a moment of heartbreak into a global mission. Dr. Gemma Camplin is the founder and director of World Wide Vets, the organization that's brought us and so many others into this world of frontline conservation and animal care. Her journey started not in a clinic or a wildlife reserve, but on a holiday in the Himalayas back in 2006. While walking through a mountain town, Gemma came across a small black dog. It was injured, it was alone, and it was in desperate need of help. Its paw was shattered from a road accident. But there was no vets nearby, no resources to treat it, no one to step in. So that moment lit a fire in Gemma that would change countless lives. She made a promise to herself that day. No animal should suffer simply because help is out of reach. And from that promise, Worldwide Vets was born. Since then, the organisation has supported rescue centres, sanctuaries and conservation projects across the globe, sending out medical supplies, training teams and placing volunteers right where they're needed most. Gemma's passion is infectious her determination is unmatched and we're so grateful to have her talk with us about her journey and vision and the impact that she's made so here is our conversation with dr jemma campbell hello

SPEAKER_01

hello

SPEAKER_00

hi

SPEAKER_01

um have you got any like wildly probing questions for me

SPEAKER_00

hopefully nothing i

SPEAKER_01

haven't answered i don't

SPEAKER_00

think so no they're not they're not like tell me about your

SPEAKER_01

personal life tell me about your love life

SPEAKER_00

right shall we start then exciting can you take us back to the moment when the idea for World Wide Vets was born and just tell us all what sparked it for you what sparked the vision and the mission of World Wide Vets.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah absolutely okay so it's obviously it's been a road starting up and running World Wide Vets I always love travel and I never started my work or my career thinking I was going to run a charitable organization thinking it was going to become necessarily what it has become I just wanted to travel and I knew that I love animals and I knew that when I was traveling I was absolutely happiest when I had a job and I was doing something with animals and like mingling with the community and it just made me feel like I was doing worthwhile adventures. So when I was in India, I did a few different volunteering opportunities. But ironically, what actually really sparked my interest in trying to do something myself was I was up in the Himalayas, very remote village, and there was this little dog. I called him Blackie, but I'm sure that's not his name. And he was crossing the road and I noticed he was limping. And I went over and he was really shy, didn't want to come near me, but he had a terrible injury on his back leg. And I think as a Now, in hindsight, he'd probably been run over. It had taken all the skin and tissue off the foot and the bones were sticking out. And this poor dog was just in so much pain. And so I phoned around, you know, a few different people and said, well, who can come and help this poor little guy? And there were no clinics in the area. There was no vets in the area. I tried to see if I could put him on a bus to get him into the city. None of the buses wanted a feral dog on them, which I guess it makes sense. And so I had to leave him behind and just walk away from that situation. And still to this day, it haunts me. And I just had to think, OK, what can I do? Maybe something can't be done for Blackie. But I know I'm going to see other dogs in this situation. I know there's hundreds of other dogs that are out there that are hurt. What can I do with my short little life to be able to do something about that and change the tide and make a difference? And then I started, I was at vet school. I was only in year two at the time. And I was talking to friends about it. And they said, well, this sounds like a great trip. Like we would love to do this trip. And at the same time, the places I've been volunteering at were saying, well, we would love to have volunteers. We need manpower and we need support and we need help. I thought, well, okay, maybe there's a concept that can be put together here. And so I started the process of linking our vet students with Phenix. And it was a real success. And everyone, you know, learned a lot and gained a lot of support. And it started to snowball. And we just started to do it in more locations. And I could see that all so many animals were receiving help. It was worth continuing. So World Wide Vets was founded at that point when I was second year of university. And it's sort of grown and grown ever since then.

SPEAKER_00

That's incredible. That is

The Moment That Sparked Worldwide Vets

SPEAKER_01

incredible.

SPEAKER_00

It's eye opening that, you know, you can go to different places, somewhere like India and see these panels and it's so distressing to see but then for it to like drive you to to do what you're doing today it's just absolutely amazing so inspiring isn't it and for everyone else around you to then be like yeah this is a great idea and just jump on board

Supportive Team

SPEAKER_01

oh bless there's so many people I had such great friends at university you know and they really supported me because it wasn't an easy thing to start and it definitely wasn't easy to run it for the first few years whilst I was a vet student studying fourth year exams especially because they're the worst once you get to fifth year you're home home run but yeah I had some really inspired friends that wanted to travel and get behind it and I started doing talks at the vet schools and the Association of Veterinary Students and then the IBSA International Veterinary Student Association in the UK and yeah really it's thanks to everyone that supported the journey on its way and all the other people around me that have the same passion to travel because if it was just me wanting to make a difference and get out there in the world it would be a very lonely one person role but it's not I've got an amazing team now and all the students and new grads and qualified vets and nurses that still come and do this work and volunteer. We've just said goodbye to some vets in Ukraine that have just been out for two weeks giving their time. You know, they're the people that really make this possible. So yeah, I'm lucky to be surrounded by great, great colleagues.

SPEAKER_00

And when you started doing the talks, were you, had you already created the idea of World Wide Vets or did you just start talking about the idea of it before it was real, if you see what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think I started talking about it first, certainly to my friends and my colleagues at university. I was, I don't know, I think travel is amazing for a person. It's not for everyone, but it really makes you step out of your comfort zone and it makes you understand more about the world and other people and about yourself and so if you want to be a good professional at work and you want to be a good person at home for me travel's really important I've been traveling in Africa and I'm now wildly obsessed with Africa I've lived there for a number of years now and I wanted other people to experience this I was just so keen to share this experience with people so yes I definitely started talking about it before it was a registered organization and why people should travel and do they want to come out with me and we would take some small groups out and do this work and then the organization was registered after that um and uh yeah i'm not a public speaker i was the first talk i did i think was at cambridge university and i was a student and i was absolutely terrified there was a room of about 40 people and i hate public speaking and i yeah to stand in front of a lecture hall of your of your peers is terrifying but um you know you're sweating and you're rubbing your hands and you can try to i don't know sound like not a total idiot but um i think if you talk about what you love if you just step back and say okay i'm not gonna fluff around this this is what i feel this is what i love this is what i'm inspired by you really no one can go wrong speaking about something like that

Public Speaking

SPEAKER_00

no that's really cool I think so often we think I can't do it it has to wait until we get to point a or point b but you've made it very clear that you just need to start and if you start and you talk passionately people will follow you yeah definitely so I know you've mentioned the different places that you've traveled where'd you travel like obviously when you went to India and you saw Blackie like where'd you travel before that point

Travelling Experiences: Africa

SPEAKER_01

um so I my first um solo travel adventure ironically was to Zimbabwe which is not many people people's first travel destination. And at the time, I think it was 2007, there was a lot of unrest in the country. And because of that, it was one of the cheaper places to travel. And my dad actually said, I don't want you to go. You're not going. And unfortunately, I'm one of those people when you say you can't do something. That's it. Stand back because I'm going. So I jet-setted off to Zimbabwe. And the first day I arrived, I was working in the bush in the wild with animals. I just fell in love with Africa. That was me. Sold for the rest of my life. It's just such a beautiful place with such a beautiful energy people so I then spent two years traveling southern and central Africa backpacking which also in hindsight is a bit bold but I had a great time and hitchhiked and backpacked around southern Africa which has inspired a lot of the work that we we do now so primarily it was Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and so on so this was my real first places that I traveled and fell in love with.

SPEAKER_00

So you've always had that traveler that urge to travel and just throw a backpack on and just go into the unknown.

SPEAKER_01

You know I said you chatting to someone about this the other day I actually think it comes from my mum so we when I was growing up we couldn't really afford to do nice exotic holidays so she would put me in the car and we would go on an adventure holiday and she would just start driving up the motorway and she this was before smartphones so we'd get out the map and she'd say okay pick a junction and I'd be like junction 10 so we'd go up the motorway to junction 10 and then she'd be like okay just tell me when and we would just come off the roundabout when I would say and we'd find a place to stay like a farm stay normally and go and visit obviously something animal related because I was obsessed with animals a fiery path or a petting zoo or something like that. And yeah, so I think actually my crazy make it up as you go along adventure travel probably stems from that time as a little kid.

Childhood Adventures

SPEAKER_00

And when you started World Wide Vets, what was the first project and what do you remember most about it?

Most Memorable Project Experience

SPEAKER_01

I can tell you very clearly. It was India, close to where Blackie was. And I thought, well, this is going to be simple, you know, you send people out and no, it's not very simple. Firstly, you have to have everything in place by way of insurance and policies and, you know, all this kind of stuff and helping people that haven't travelled before find their trips. And it is also a place that experiences an absolutely wild monsoon season. And one of the first volunteers was an absolutely rock star of a vet student and he went out and the whole place flooded and he spent three days trying to get to the clinic and the clinic was trying to help him get there and it happens you know when you have these natural disaster weather situations and oh my goodness the amount of stress it was really frustrating for everyone and we were just desperate to get there and eventually he did at the best time I think he could have written a book about that whole experience and we learned a lot about you know putting locations that are quite easily accessible all year round and then rather running outreach missions to these really challenging and inaccessible accessible areas.

SPEAKER_00

And would you say that's the biggest challenge that you faced in the early days? Or was there any other challenges that you faced? I

SPEAKER_01

guess I don't see it as a challenge as such. There's just little things to maneuver. The paperwork, the policies, it's kind of dull. Everyone wants to be out like saving all the dogs. But there's a huge amount that goes into the background, the fundraising, the legal setup, insurance, financial reporting. So that is, yeah, that was a huge challenge to learn because I had no training on it. And I had to get some really great advice from some really great professionals. Yeah, it was definitely the bit i found the most difficult that's a nice perspective to have though that it's not just like

SPEAKER_00

a big challenge but just these little hurdles

SPEAKER_01

and one at a time yeah anytime you learn something new you're like okay now i can do a financial tech you know it's a great thing so something else for the linkedin all the things

SPEAKER_00

we never got taught in school that are super important exactly

SPEAKER_01

why why didn't they teach us yeah how to open a bank account or a charity or a company or anything so thanks school for that

Dealing with Hurdles and Challenges

SPEAKER_00

so you mentioned about like hurdles and challenges obviously like you've been to so many different countries, different cultures, and you've had to build trust with so many different communities. How did you do that? You know, especially with all the challenges that you had to face and all the language barriers and taking all that into consideration.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. I think this is one of the greatest blessings I've had in my career is, it sounds really silly to say, and it's come with age, not everyone thinks like I do. Not everyone from the UK and whoever's listening to the podcast, wherever you might be from, it's really difficult to understand that a different culture can have such a wildly different view on something and it's very easy to say oh well that's wrong because it's not in our culture and actually when you see the animal abuse it's really difficult because you want to say well you know that should never happen and actually doing that closes the doors for animals that you can help when you get angry with a culture or a situation people are living in poverty and you start pointing fingers they're going to shut the door on you really quickly because you're not from there and they just say okay like leave me alone so learning to understand human nature need poverty cultural and religious nuances is really important and it is such a fascinating part of what we do i love psychology i love people working with people and yeah it's also one of the more challenging things to set up a clinic in a country registered correctly and then that's the easy bit then getting the community on side and integrating and just opening your mind to the way that other people live and eat and worship and and work so yeah yeah

SPEAKER_00

that's great i think a lot of people forget that all of that does come into it as well you're like you know you're going to someone else's you know culture share you have to be so respectful and you have to be accepting and you have to be so open-minded and especially here in Britain we have very different you know culture or different norms to everywhere else especially over in the other side of the world so to be so accepting I guess is is part of that journey as well

SPEAKER_01

yeah and I always say like you know I could spend my whole life treating animals and doing the best thing that I possibly think I could do and I would maybe be able to treat I don't know 10 or 100,000 animals in my lifetime and then I'll die and that'll be that and everyone will be like oh cool well done but it won't make a long standing difference it's not going to save an environment it's not going to maintain land mass for the future generation so actually what you need to do is work with the community teach kids you know teach people and that way you can actually make a legacy and change the world after you're here

The Importance of the Community

SPEAKER_00

yeah definitely sounds like that's what you're doing absolutely and then in terms of obviously like everywhere there's so many different charities you know worldwide effects we're a charity and there's loads of different charities out there especially in these communities what makes worldwide effects different What do you think?

SPEAKER_01

So I think it's the breadth of what we do, the number of places that we work. So we work across 10 different countries. And more than that, we don't just go into 10 countries every now and then. We have a permanent representation. Because I find if you go in and you do a couple of weeks and you leave again, it's really good. And it's a super powerful push to be able to support animals, but it doesn't provide a sustainable improvement. It doesn't allow the community to rely on you. So if you really, in my opinion, want to help animals sustainably, you've got to be on ground you've got to be supporting um long term you've got to have a vet there when a dog gets sick or a horse gets hurt um and be working with the community doing preventative health care and deworming vaccinations uh regularly so the the number of places that we work and the support we give the animals on the ground the whole year round

SPEAKER_00

that's really nice yeah it's really nice and the fact that you know you also said um before that you know if we focus on long-term impact and sustainability you know and connecting with communities as well i think that's also what what does make World Wide Red so different is we focus on, you know, the whole pie. We're focusing on everything, not just the animals, not just the humans. You know, we do focus on everything, which is just

SPEAKER_01

most important.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah,

SPEAKER_01

if you want to make a big impact, you've got to look at everything holistically and work with it together. And that's how you're going to help the most animals in the best way.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah,

What Makes Worldwide Vets Different

SPEAKER_01

definitely.

SPEAKER_00

So then as the founder, obviously we did speak about the moments before you as a founder, but as a founder, what have you found to be the most rewarding moments?

Most Rewarding Moment

SPEAKER_01

Do you know, it's actually... weird moments that come as these sort of flash realizations of what we're doing and I'm not a very emotional person but every now and then I just look at a situation I kind of get a little bit emotional about what we've managed to do and it's normally the really generic moments it's normally the downtime after something totally crazy like you know you've dehorned rhino and you've been out all day and you're going and you're going and you're cutting the horn off these rhinos so the poachers don't kill them and you get to the end of that day and everyone just sits down in the dust and it's sunset and you just for the first time you breathe and the helicopters turn off and everything goes quiet and you just think we've just made a massive impact in the lives of not just these animals but maybe you know keeping them here for future generations and that's when you just have this realization moment of wow and being so thankful for the work that we do and the impact we can make in Ukraine you know we've just done a thousand two hundred plus dog and cat neuters and it's never when you're actually doing it you're going and you're pushing and you're getting all these animals in and making sure they're vaccinated and treating the sick ones and then when all your volunteers sit down at the final dinner and say goodbye and you just realize what the friendships that you've made and the people that have given their time to support what the charity does. Yeah, and you just suddenly think, gosh, what an awesome thing to have been able to offer these animals.

SPEAKER_00

It must be so sad to then have that final dinner and then all part ways after such an incredible trip. Yeah,

SPEAKER_01

it is. You make great friends doing this job and I'm so honoured to work with some amazing volunteers. So, you know, it's never goodbye forever normally. They always come back or come somewhere else with us. But yeah, it's a cycle of working with people and a new group and a new group. That's amazing.

Staying Connected

SPEAKER_00

Do you get to spend a lot of time out in the field? field. And would you say that that's maybe your favorite role?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I definitely do. Worldwide Vets, we don't have anyone in a permanent office address. No one sits in an office. So we're all doing our job out in the field and doing the actual work itself. So I do manage to get a few months at home throughout the year sometimes, as do my team. But a lot of the time we are out doing the work and putting the time into actually making that difference. And I love it. So I'm out in Ukraine at the moment, just run this outreach mission. From here, I go to Egypt, where we're going to be working to save set up a new clinic and then from there it's off to teach one of our elephant medicine courses and then dehorning rhino in Namibia in September so most of the year is doing the work and I think that's what makes this organization so special it's not people sitting behind a desk that haven't done it we are all on the ground and we're all doing that work that's really exciting

SPEAKER_00

you've got so many projects going on everywhere staff and volunteers and what role do the volunteers and the donors play in actually making these projects happen

SPEAKER_01

yeah absolutely so I mean there's plenty of sayings about you know teamwork and it's so true that a team is only as strong as its people. So without our donors, we could do nothing. And without our volunteers, we could do nothing. They're the two groups of people that actually make this work possible. They get us out in the field, dehorning rhino, saving elephants, catching snared animals, saving horses, doing this work with Bayer Neutron, bringing the free care. They are the only people that keep it running. My job is just to organize some things and keep the whole thing together. But our volunteers come out throughout the year and we have volunteers ranging from people on their gap year to pre-vets, vet students, nurse students, biology students, graduated professionals and depending on the project that they're doing they either attend a course where they get education about surgery or wildlife care, equine medicine and they learn on the ground and their participation actually supports that project. So without them doing those projects it wouldn't exist and that's great because they get to see the work that's happening, they get to learn and at the same time they're giving something back and supporting and being part of our work. We send out about 500 volunteers a year last year just a little bit more so it's a lot of people and yeah it keeps the cogs turning for sure and our donors so we have a number of different amazing donors from the general public to vet clinics to corporate sponsors and they help us do everything from biomedication by diagnostic equipment get the vets out on the ground in rural areas where it's needed the most it's an absolute partnership and both parts play a ginormous role in that

The Importance of Volunteers and Donors

SPEAKER_00

that's really lucky that you explain it as a partnership and I don't know if you agree but I do think there's this misconception that volunteering just means you donate your time and you get nothing back for it. Whereas volunteering for Worldwide Vets is definitely a partnership. I think it's lovely that you've taken the time to explain that they actually learn and they can get some real experience back, which then they can take forward into their careers.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. All of our projects are really hands-on. You can sort of travel and you can go and visit places and that's really nice. But if you want to dive under the skin of a country, if you want to feel part of a family, to arrive somewhere and be part of a team that's doing something, it's the most fantastic way to travel and get involved with that kind of work

SPEAKER_00

that's lovely especially dive under the skin of a country love that phrase yeah i actually love that too

SPEAKER_01

i've never heard that before but i'm gonna use it now and it's a family we keep in touch on facebook and whatsapp groups after travel as well and then some of our volunteers go on to get into vet school or we write their supporting documentation or reference letter which is so nice and then you watch those people go through their careers and maybe even start their own career in let's say wildlife medicine come out to south africa and then they're actually working with us in the field as a graduated professional and that's just so rewarding

Partnerships at Worldwide Vets

SPEAKER_00

and if someone was sitting at home or thinking i'd love to get involved would be the first place you'd advise them to start

SPEAKER_01

so you get this question a lot like i i'm desperate to do this work i want to travel and do medicine or travel and help animals um or do conservation especially and i always say you have to you have to be on the ground like you have to start the process um employers employ through normally people they know that get on well with the team isn't a competitive industry but that's by No means means that you can't do it. If anything, it means that you can do it. You've just got to be that person at the forefront that wants it the most. And if you really want it the most, you're going to get it. So there's no worries there when it comes to wanting a certain career path. I think you've got to get out on the ground, volunteer, meet teams. Even if you're not able to get into the country, reach out to the organization that you aspire to be in. Something that you think, oh gosh, that would be my dream job. And say, can I help you with social media? Can I help you with fundraising? You know, integrate yourself into that team. Learn more about the role. Make sure you really enjoy it. And you know that the data today is as you expected and that is the first step to I think getting into that career path and that's why so many of our volunteers often go on to doing jobs like this working in the wildlife sector you know traveling and working with animals because they've come on the ground with us they've seen the situation they've got the contacts they've got the skills and they take it forwards into a career

SPEAKER_00

perfect thank you you need to go get it kind of thing

SPEAKER_01

100%

Get Stuck Into Volunteering

SPEAKER_00

so I think as well like tying into that you've been to war zones like Ukraine and you said about dehorning the rhinos and so what drives that global ambition to go in so many different areas?

SPEAKER_01

You know everything's actually interlinked in a way you kind of think of Africa being really far away from Ukraine or you know Tanzania being nowhere near Peru which it isn't it's a valid point but I kind of see it as a an overarching role a network like a cobweb if you will of people of animals and of education and so when we're in southern Africa dehorning rhino and teaching volunteers and doing this work actually a lot of time, our delegates and our volunteers are from other places. So they might be from Peru, South America, Central America, other African countries. And so they're learning to be inspired by wildlife to protect it and to actually do the procedures that keep these animals safe, learning medicine skills that are going to help mega herbivores, for instance. And they can take that home and use that to help animals in their home country. And if they aren't vets and they're not necessarily carrying out medicine at home, they take the information home and they become ambassadors for these animals and for welfare and they talk to their friends their family the younger cousins and you know their kids when the time comes and they've got kids and that's how you sort of uplift international education about animal welfare and create a world of wildlife and animal welfare warriors that can really make a difference so I guess it's seeing everything as a whole as a holistic scenario and knowing that everything is linked in one way or another yeah thank you that

SPEAKER_00

was really lovely I was just thinking about what you said about being a cobweb and I was thinking yeah it really is like I don't think I really realized until probably sat down with you so much that it is so interlinked like all different areas of the world are so just so linked like that cobweb that you mentioned so yeah it's it's very true

SPEAKER_01

yeah we have to sort of um you know pick and choose where we work which is also a real challenge because i would love to help everywhere um but yeah we often have you know new volunteers reach out to us on new people message and say all right i know this place that needs support can you help more than look into ways to find funding for that and be able to support new organizations and new places So it's always growing, which is also amazing.

The "Cobweb" of Networking

SPEAKER_00

And is there anything specific about the future of World Wide Bets that excites you the most?

SPEAKER_01

I have so many exciting things, and I can only tell you some of them, because some are a secret.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, boo! I knew that this was going to happen.

SPEAKER_01

I'll do a poem for you there. So we have some amazing new courses on the horizon, working with wildlife in Africa and the Americas, which people are going to absolutely love. love, have a life-changing experience and learn a lot. But I can't tell you more than that. That's very exciting. Yes. And we are also starting up a new project in Egypt, which I'm just so excited for. One of the first places I did travel internationally as a kid, and I've always been in love with Egypt and the culture and the base. And there's so much need for animal support in Egypt. There's a lot of suffering. There's a lot of poverty. There's a lot of problems when it comes to management of animals. And yes, that is a huge job for 2025 to get whole thing up and running in egypt and start our volunteer program there and and look for sponsors and donors for that work so that is my big job for 2025 and i'm just so excited to bring it all together and make it happen so watch this space and soon you'll see egypt unfolding before you how exciting very exciting

SPEAKER_00

yeah i've never been to egypt i've always wanted to go to egypt i've just not been yet

SPEAKER_01

beautiful so beautiful

The Future of Worldwide Vets

SPEAKER_00

it's just crazy as well like that the pyramids like someone built that because i like i can't even build a lego set it's crazy

SPEAKER_01

before the moon Next podcast, I've got to build a pyramid out of Lego. Self-improvement.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, I can do that. Yeah, yeah, I'll do that. And then next thing you know, I'll be in Egypt with you. I'll be building pyramids.

SPEAKER_01

You can bring your Lego pyramid to the pyramids and have a selfie there. Yeah, perfect. It's a date. Anyone watching the podcast, watch out for Kristen

SPEAKER_00

and pyramids

SPEAKER_01

with her pyramid.

Kristin's Goal: Build a Pyramid

SPEAKER_00

It can happen. It will happen. So thank you for doing that. That was great to interview you and just to get a bit more of an insight into World by Bets. We have like a little quick fun, like a bonus. around now, just to ask you a few exciting things. And so you've got 30 seconds to answer a question. I'm ready. Okay, cool. So, first one is, what's your favourite animal and why?

SPEAKER_01

Horses, because they are just the most inspirational and elegant animals. And I love horses, always.

SPEAKER_00

Horses, that's a good choice. And then, this is a good one, one word to describe the Worldwide Vets team?

SPEAKER_01

Inspirational. Ooh, that's a good word. My team that work with me, they're just the most amazing people and they dedicate their lives to doing this amazing work. And it inspires me to be a better leader and a better veterinarian to be able to bring the whole family together, the World Wide Vets family. So they're my inspiration. That's lovely.

SPEAKER_00

And your most unforgettable animal rescue moment or story?

SPEAKER_01

It has to be when I was working on a lion in Zimbabwe and it woke up in the middle of the procedure and proceeded to roll onto its tummy and growl at me. And the day ended well. Maybe if you want more information on that story, we'll have to do a whole other story because I went for it in 30 seconds. But yeah, that was the most exciting part of my career. Yeah,

SPEAKER_00

that

SPEAKER_01

definitely sounds unforgettable. I

Fun Bonus Round

Outro

How You Can Support Us

SPEAKER_00

mean, we definitely have to get you back on now to tell us that story. I need to know what happened. And we're done. That's everything. Awesome. Thank you. That was really fun. I really enjoyed that. Thanks so much, Gemma, for agreeing to be interviewed and for giving us such an in-depth behind the scenes of Worldwide Vets. We really hope that everybody loved hearing about how it all began as much as we did. And now we want to give you a snapshot of what World Wide Vets is doing today. From Ukraine to Namibia to the oceans, the world is bold, urgent and deeply human. This isn't just a podcast, it's a movement. It's a community of people who believe animals deserve protection no matter where they are in the world. And every donation, every volunteer and every listener. That's what keeps this mission alive. If this inspired you, visit our website www.worldwide-vets.org or click the link in the episode description to learn how you can help. Whether it's donating, signing up to volunteer or just sharing this episode with someone who cares. Thanks so much for everyone who has joined us on our second episode of Worldwide Tales. Next up, we're taking you to Ukraine for a raw look at how vet care continues in a conflict zone. Trust us, you won't want to miss it. Until next time, keep caring, keep sharing and keep making an impact.