Our Veterinary Team
Adam Marques
Hospital Director – Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Surgeons (Surgery)
Adam completed a Bachelor degree in biology, and later graduated as a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine in 2007. He started his career working in both mixed and rural practice before moving to the UK to pursue his passion for surgery. During Adam’s time in England he completed rotating internships at Animal Health Trust in Cambridge, followed by a surgical internship at Fitzpatrick Referrals with Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick.
Adam runs our Orthopaedic Surgery Service – Knee Reconstructions and TPLO surgery.
Outside of work he is a proud father, husband, and member of the beautiful Sandringham Community.
Aaron Teh
Practising Veterinarian
As far back as he can remember, Aaron has always held a grand fascination for all creatures, great and small. Throughout his youth, Aaron fostered this passion and eventually completed his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Melbourne in 2018.
Aaron joined Sandringham Veterinary Hospital straight out of university and has since honed his clinical skills in medicine, surgery and general practice. He finds being a vet very rewarding and enjoys following through with cases to achieve a happy outcome for owners and animals alike.
Having grown up in Bayside, Aaron loves soaking up the sun and taking his dog Lyra for a run on the beach. He is an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan and enjoys playing indoor soccer. After a long day of work, you can find Aaron curled up on the couch catching up on his favourite TV shows and movies.
Laura Cuesta
Practising Veterinarian
Laura graduated in Veterinary Medicine in Spain in 2012, where she is originally from. As a new grad, she completed an internship in Emergency and Intensive Care at a Small Animal Hospital in the north of Spain.
Laura has also lived in Canada and the UK before landing in Australia in 2017, for what was meant to be only one year of adventure, working and travelling around “the Antipodes”. And here she is 6 years later, enjoying Australian nature and lifestyle as much as the first day she arrived.
She recently passed the Australasian Veterinary Examination and became a member of the Australian Veterinary Association and Veterinary Board of Victoria, and she couldn’t be happier to be able to work as a vet again.
Laura has been working at Sandringham Veterinary Hospital for almost 3 years and is looking forward to continuing developing her professional career in this amazing country.
When she is not at work, Laura enjoys spending time with her partner, friends and her cat Ollie, cooking, exploring new places in Australia and travelling back home to visit her family whenever she can.
Leanne Little
Practising Veterinarian
Leanne has been one of the vets at SVH since May 2022.
She was raised in Wollongong NSW and graduated from Sydney University in 2011. Since then she has worked entirely in companion animal medicine, mostly in Sydney, with a few periods in Wollongong and London. Her husband is a Melbourne local so after a few twists and turns they finally settled in the Bayside area in 2021.
Leanne has always been a very hands-on kind of person and was known for pulling things to pieces from a very young age! Which then resulted in a love of all things surgical. Over the years she’s also come to really enjoy the medicine side and solving the diagnostic riddle. Her favourite part of general practice is the nice variety to keep the days interesting, as well as every now and then when a perfectly healthy patient pops in to say hello!
At home Leanne has Rolly, her senior British Shorthair rescue and two young daughters. Outside of work she once was an enthusiastic traveller and loved to cook, but these days she is most often at a park with her kids. She has loved settling into bayside life, and is looking forward to getting to know our clients and patients at Sandringham.
Our Veterinary Nurse Team
Claire Dunkley
Veterinary Head Nurse
Claire is a Veterinary Nurse who has been working in small animal general practice since 2010.
When she was very young, she loved helping take her family pets to the vet and has never lived without multiple animals at home, so caring for them for a living was an obvious calling.
The part of this job that she finds she is most passionate about is ensuring our patients have a positive experience each time they visit. It isn’t always easy, but she thinks a little TLC can go a long way.
Claire treats every furry friend as though they are her own pet, that way they are getting the very best from her.
Outside of work, she is very passionate about conservation, regarding both wildlife and our environment and really enjoys travelling overseas to volunteer with wildlife conservation programs.
Daisie Cooper
Veterinary Nurse
Daisie’s earliest memories of visiting the vet clinic come from taking her pets for check ups, dropping off lost dogs found on the streets in the hope of them being reunited with their owners, or taking in injured wildlife to be treated by the vet.
She grew up in an animal-filled home with her extended family consisting of stick insects, budgies, a cockatoo, turtles, rabbits, cats and dogs!
Daisie’s passion for animal care guided her into a career in veterinary nursing, and in late 2020 she started working at Sandringham Veterinary Hospital as a volunteer. She completed her Certificate III in Animal Studies and officially joined the Sandy Vet team in 2021. Daisie is currently studying Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing at Box Hill TAFE.
Daisie has been vegetarian for 8 years and is now a vegan. She is happiest when around animals and in nature, and when she’s not at work, you will either find her listening to music, watching movies with her family, or going for drives to the country to visit friends.
Sam Marques
Veterinary Nurse
Sam grew up in Melbourne with a family obsessed with animals. Her parents always pushed her brother and her to share a passion for caring for their furry friends, and so she grew up with dogs, cats, bunnies, fish…. and whatever else we could find to add to our gang.
Throughout her nursing career, she has been lucky enough to work in a number of amazing veterinary hospitals, both in Melbourne and Sydney. Sam has always had a strong interest in emergency and critical care. She takes so much pride in taking care of your pets and treating them like her own, making sure they are as comfortable as possible while in our care.
At home she has two beautiful twin girls, and a fairly round and overfed kelpie. Sam loves to be outdoors and I’m sure you will see her down at the beach chasing the girls around when she’s not at work and she has recently found a new hobby in growing indoor plants.
Sophia Keast
Veterinary Nurse
Sophia is a studying Veterinary Nurse who was brought up in Black Rock and soon moved to Gardenvale through her school years where she currently lives.
Growing up she spent most of her time surrounded by animals! Being the youngest child of three and having a large age gap, pets tended to be her companions while at home. Due to this, animals have incredibly impacted her life and influenced her towards learning more about this field! Sophia has been enjoying working as a Student Veterinary Nurse for over a year now in a small animal practice, inspiring her to further my skills and abilities.
While studying and recently joining the Sandringham Veterinary Team, they have allowed her to learn and adapt to this professional setting where she hopes to grow as a Nurse.
Outside of work, Sophia spends her time with friends, family, pet sitting, pilates and away at Lake Eildon enjoying the lake and wildlife. At home she is busy with her own furry bunch including 3 cats, Mitzie, Charlie and Lola as well as Daisy and Jett Boy, her lovely dogs!
Tiffany Hii
Veterinary Nurse
Tiffany is our SVH weekend nurse, she is a vet student currently in her third year at the University of Melbourne.
Growing up overseas in Malaysia, she spent a lot of time on her father’s farm, where she would romp around the bush with all the farm dogs. She admits the conditions are much more favourable here but she will never forget the joy of being surrounded by animals.
Now, Tiffany lives locally and is a proud dog mom to a Red Heeler X named Kouma. They love going to the beach together for a good fetch session from time to time. Otherwise, you’ll find her driving the 110 year old rollercoaster down at Luna Park.
Eliza McLeod
Kennel Hand
Eliza is one of the Veterinary Assistants at the Sandringham Veterinary Hospital, she started working with the team mid-2022. She is responsible for making sure your pets receive the affection and care they deserve during their time in the hospital. Your furry friend’s comfort during their stay is her priority. She’s often seen feeding, exercising, and cuddling our patients.
As a young girl, her family would always joke around that she was like Eliza Thornberry from the Wild Thornberrys cartoon because she believed she could “speak” to animals. Similar to the characters in the show Eliza has always had a passion to learn about animals and the ways in which they contribute to our amazing environment.
In her free time, she always has a book in her hands and loves adding to her already overflowing bookshelf.
Olivia Maley
Kennel Hand
Olivia is a Veterinary Assistant here at Sandringham Veterinary Hospital, and currently training up to become a vet nurse. She is originally from a small country town on the Murray river, but moved down to Melbourne to attend university, where she studied zoology and ecology, and loved it here so much she decided to stay.
She has always loved animals and knew she wanted a career with them. Growing up she always had lots of pets, from dogs and cats, to rabbits and turtles. Taking care of them was a major part of her childhood, and she loves being able to continue caring for animals as a career.
In her spare time she enjoys going for hikes, exploring Melbourne, and a bit of drawing here and there.
Our Reception & Support Team
Tash Watts
Practice Manager
Tash has worked in various business management roles for a number of years. She joined the reception team in 2021 and quickly took on the majority of administrative responsibilities.
She has since settled into her role of Practice Manager and when she isn’t attending to her duties, can be found sneaking a cuddle with the puppies and kittens in hospital.
Tash grew up in Bayside and has always loved the beach. She has a passion for travel and fashion, loves any type of sporting event and is a die hard Pies fan.
At home, Tash grew up with her family dogs Charlie and Colin but since moving out, has taken on two handsome guinea pigs, Kevin & Troy. She looks forward to one day rescuing many dogs in need of a loving home.
Adrienne Bizzarri
Receptionist
Adrienne joined the reception team in August 2021, having known the team through her photography business and her 12 year old Abi the labrador being a client. She jumped at the chance to join SVH when they put the call out for help.
Adrienne runs our social media accounts and is now balancing her photography business with working on reception a couple of days a week.
Being a local, and bringing up both her boys in Sandringham over the last 22 years, she also tends to be a very familiar face to many of our clients! So next time you’re in, make sure to say hello as she loves a chat!
Jenny McCallum
Receptionist
Jenny is one of the friendly receptionists here at SVH. She grew up in Melbourne, constantly surrounded by animals, and now owns two cats; Pumpkin and Spy. She’s always been passionate about animals and as soon as she was of age to volunteer she started at the RSPCA.
Her love for animals and the environment has pushed her to pursue a degree in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, which she is currently studying at Deakin. Working at a veterinary clinic has been a childhood dream come true for Jenny, she gets to work with animals everyday and get paid for it!
Outside of work, she loves watching movies, reading, baking, knitting her own clothes, spending time with friends and enjoying all that nature has to offer. She looks forward to meeting you and your four-legged friends!
Danielle Aquilina
Receptionist
Danielle has wanted to be a part of the animal industry since she was 17 years old, and made that dream a reality at 21 when she enrolled in Certificate III in Companion Animal Services. Since then she worked at a boarding cattery for 3 years, and at the Lost Dogs Home as a cattery attendant for almost 5 years.
In 2021, she decided that she wanted a career change while still staying within the animal industry, so she said goodbye to LDH, and started an exciting new chapter as a veterinary receptionist at a local clinic. As she lives locally and was familiar with the team at the Sandringham Vet Hospital (being that we have looked after her pets in the past), when the opportunity arose for a receptionist role here, it was the perfect excuse for another change, and she hasn’t looked back since.
Danielle’s favourite thing about her job is seeing the pets leave happy, whether that’s with a tail wag or content meow. Getting animal cuddles is a bonus, too.
In her down time, she enjoys reading, learning to crochet, and spending time with her fiance’ and their two babies, Freya and Toby the gorgeous French Bulldogs.
Kalmia Astbury
Receptionist
Kalmia is our newest team member who started her role with SVH in February 2023. Kalmia has grown up in Bayside and Phillip Island, where she visits most weekends to spend time with her family. Kalmia has had years of experience in customer service and administration and has always had a love for animals which is why her decision to move to SVH was so easy!
Her love for animals started at a very young age, where her family would often listen to her babbling away to her beloved Labrador Cleo and Cat Chewy, before she could say her first words. At work she loves to take care of your animals as if they were her own and maybe even spoil them with a few extra cuddles and treats.
When Kalmia isn’t working, she enjoys going to the gym, spending time with family and friends, exploring the outdoors on hikes and looking after other peoples animals whilst their owners are on holidays.