Hello, everybody. And welcome back to vet chat. I'm really looking forward to today's episode and welcoming a brand new guest to join me Tammy O'Leary.
Before we get started, let me tell you a little bit about Tammy. For those who may not know, Tammy is the Co-founder alongside Jade Stat from sheer behind the human animal Bondi, a platform dedicated to fostering collaboration among charities, organisations and individuals who recognise and cultivate the profound connection between humans and animals. Tammy deeply values her own relationships with her beloved companions, including a home bred horse and a resilient three leg rescue preer.
She passionately believes that the human animal bond transcends socio-economic status and living conditions, asserting its unique significance for each person. A strong advocate for Street Bet, Tammy highlights the essential role this charity plays in supporting people with unconventional lives and their cherished pets. She is immensely proud of the street BET team and is committed to raising awareness about this and other charities through her platform.
The Human Animal Bands Awareness Day, celebrated on Sunday the 28th of July, showcases the efforts of various collaborative entities dedicated to this cause. So welcome Tammy to that chat. Thank you for having me here.
Oh, no. So to kick us off, Do you want to tell us a little about, a little bit about your role in organising and the awareness day that's happening this weekend? Absolutely.
Thank you for your time today. It's something that I again, as you've said, I feel very passionate about street vet and during my time, volunteering for street Vet. I'm not a vet, and I'm not a nurse, but my background is in the, animal science space and with business.
So during, Covid, I had a bit of time because we were furloughed from work. So I had a bit of time, and I wanted to use that positively. So I approached Jade because two things I'm very passionate about is charity and also the veterinary industry.
So I thought the two together, I'll be able to help here. And my role with Street vet is that originally it was a smaller team, and we're going about four years now. Now we've grown immensely, both in volunteers and staff.
But when I started with them, my skills, I like rules and I was a data protection officer for a while, so I was helping with GDPR and setting up some policies. So that's how I started. And then once I'd helped Jade and the team with that, I moved on to grant submissions.
So obviously they need support financially to do what they do because they're providing free of charge services, and there are grants out there that we could tap into. So my job was to write the grant submission, submit them with all the relevant documentation, and, some people would find that very boring. But I actually quite enjoyed that.
And and, and then I, would help them raise money that way. So my my background them is more on the admin side. And I was very lucky to have spent time with Jade.
And who is, as you know, the co-founder of this day, and of Street Vet and, Zoe Abbott's as well. Both of them are quite inspirational to me. The heart that they have behind Street Vet and the cause that they they promote is something that obviously transcends the veterinary industry now.
And they've got about 500 volunteers now So it's a It's a growing cause. We call it a tribe. Because you feel like you're part of of of something special.
So my background with them was to support them on the admin side and the financial side. And then Jade and I, realised and spoke about the fact that obviously one of the main reasons for street bet is to keep the pet with their owner as much as possible. And Jade and the team had set up the street bet hostel accredited hostel scheme, and I realised that the human animal bond, no matter your residential status, no matter matter your financial status, no matter your health status, the bond, it doesn't depend on any of that.
It depends on your unique relationship with the animal. And I don't think we should judge people on their status. And why should their relationship with an animal be any less than it is with us?
Just because we've got a place that we call home, a place we can go back to doesn't mean that our relationships are any stronger than those who are in that situation. So it's something that I feel strongly about and the team, the volunteers and the staff see this on a daily basis that these clients of theirs will do as much as possible for them. So they provide free of charge, veterinary care and services to those that are experiencing homelessness in the UK.
And they're in about 22 locations around the UK. So the human animal bond is very evident to the street vet team, and we realised that it's not just Street Vet, but there are a lot of other charities that promote this bond, and there isn't a National Day to promote it. So we thought, You know what?
We're ambitious. Let's let's start one up. And so our work began.
Fantastic. And how long has it been going for now? The the event, in particular, the actual event.
So the work started in 2021. There's a lot of phone calls, lots of teams, calls, lots of setting up, and then last year in 2023 we were very blessed to be able to host it from Battersea. So last year it was a remote set of Facebook talks and we had about eight and they were all throughout the day from Battersea.
So we had Claire balding. We had Rory Levett. We had James Greenwood.
We had, luckily, we had two people from Street Vet talking as well, so that was last year. And then this year, I'm very pleased that we're We're going slightly, slightly different. We're going to the donkey sanctuary.
And I'm very pleased to be there because they represent other forms of a human animal bond because they do donkey assisted therapy sessions, but you have to be referred for them. But anybody who's spent any time with donkeys will realise it's very special. They're quite magical.
And there's a very strong bond between some of the recipients and the donkeys at the sanctuary. Wow. Sounds incredible.
Yeah, absolutely. And whereabouts? Is it being held?
Where is the D Sanctuary? So the donkey sanctuary is in sidmouth. The main, main main headquarters is in sidmouth.
We'll be hosting from Sidmouth, from the donkey assisted centre. But the presenters who are supporting us on a day will also meet and greet with the public as well. So it's all free to come.
So if you're in the sidmouth area. Please come along. If you're not in the sidmouth area, then you can come to our Facebook live events.
From our page. Fantastic. OK, brilliant.
So where should people search if they go to Facebook to find, to the event page, and they're all posted and promoted as well. So if you follow the page, they will pop up for you. But if not, just go to the events.
And there's a list of all of them starting from 10 a.m. Going through to 5.
30. Fantastic. That's brilliant.
So tell me a little bit about your own personal experiences with your animals we mentioned at the start. You've got, a horse, haven't you? And a three legged rescue tell me a little bit about them?
So my my background is, I I grew up with, luckily surrounded by animals. So I sort of had a bit of sanctuary of my own that when you are growing up and you've got those moments, I retreated to my animals, so I had a very strong connection and relationship with my animals growing up. And then that carried on throughout my education.
So I studied equine science. And then I've used animal health as my career as well. But I've always volunteered.
And I've always had animals. I'm lucky enough to to be able to do that. And I bred my own horse.
He's called Rufus, so I've got him and and he's he's his own character. Who? Everybody.
Everybody knows him. He's very unique. And I also have a, a Turkish pointer.
He, was from a charity in Wales and he had had a road traffic accident, and he's got three legs, but wow, he he manages superbly with three legs. So growing up, I was surrounded by animals, and any time I felt that I needed to, get away from the world, I would I would be my near my animals and I would benefit from being around them. I would benefit from spending time with them emotionally physically, because you're working with the horses, et cetera.
And I've always found that personally, I benefit from being in their presence, and I and I get comfort from them, but not justice. It feels really selfish when you say I get I get I get, but actually we all try to do something worthwhile to our animals as well. So a lot of us want to rescue because it makes us feel like we are doing something good.
We can control that in a world that we don't get to control very much. We get to control if we can actually help the animals. So I know a lot of people are rescue don't buy, and that's what I certainly did.
And I would like to think that a lot of the charities that we deal with are also promoting that. So my my my experience with animals has been generally horses and dogs, a few rabbits and Daegu thrown in as well. And I've gained a lot of comfort from my animals, and I hope that I provide them with a safe, comforting home.
But I also think that I it's nice to give them a purpose to give animals a purpose as well. So there's a talk during the day. It's a recorded talk, and it's by Lindsay Arli from Wood Green Animal Shelter, and I urge people to watch this talk.
Because I learned more about my particular breed of dogs. So he's a pointer and she her. The name of her talk is Meet my Pet, and it's about going back a step, really, and understanding the breed of your animal and what you can do to enrich their lives.
So a Chihuahua will be very different than a great Dane and such like so it's just working out your type of dog and what you can do to enrich their particular lives and what they need rather than I gain I gain. It's about giving back to them as well. Oh, no, that sounds brilliant, cos I was gonna ask, you know, do you think it is mutual?
And it benefits, Obviously, both humans and animals as well. Yeah. The American, veterinary association say that it is mutual.
We both animals and humans benefit mentally, emotionally and very often physically. So there are some wonderful charities on our collaborators page of our website. So they're, about loneliness as well.
So they fix some of them, fix, relationships up between whether it's a session or fostering or adopting. They fix people up with animals, and it's about companionship. So this this goes beyond just the physical.
It's about if you go for a dog walk, you know that you're likely to meet somebody and talk to them as well. And that's really important to some people. So this goes beyond just the, I feel loved.
This is about emotional and physical health as well and well being. Yeah, absolutely. And every everybody's situation is so different, aren't they?
And you know, different animals can come into your lives at different times, and they can have such a huge impact. You know, we're very blessed to be able to do that. Aren't we in this country?
But we can. We can take them for a walk. We can.
We've got some beautiful walks we can go on. We can happily speak to another owner. I know that's not as easy at the moment, because, of course, you've got people who might get segregated because they're trying to protect their dog.
They ex L bully, for example, with a mask. So there's lots of things that can affect people when they're taking a dog for a walk. But generally it's a positive thing, and mentally, emotionally, physically, absolutely, the more we can get out with our animals where it's suitable, the better.
Yeah, absolutely. And how has the community responded to the awareness days so far? Do you know, sometimes I get a bit overwhelmed, But the response that we've had, and Jade said to me once you start something and it rolls and it and it goes, Well, expect it to do very well.
And I've been so blessed and and pleased with the response that we've got from the charities organisations and individuals. So it's not just charities. We've got individuals such as Tess has got a dog called Cretu, and she's got a very she represents the a DH D community as well.
We've got Chloe, who's got Otho. And she is a wheel bound, wheelchair bound nurse who's the first one to have a dog with her. So it's not just about the charities.
We've got the RS PC a SS PC a P DS A. We've got, the Donkey Sanctuary. Obviously, we've got Ryan the disabled.
We've got all sorts of charities. And we've also got individuals, but we've also got companies who believe in the animal bond and the response. I've had from people.
I've gone out and asked particular companies to join our cause and other companies have come to me and said I want to be part of this. I get this, the staff understand this and we believe in it. So they have to.
We have to believe that they truly believe in the cause and the values and believe our mission and vision and when they do, they they join on and the job I have is to promote those charities, individuals and organisations via social media or by our website. And we shout about them. Basically, what I found is not everybody understands the amount of charities and ways in which animals benefit humans.
So there's the medical detection dogs. You've got a lot of the autism charities. You've got the loneliness, charities.
There are so many and I urge people to just have a look because we're just a fraction of what's out there. But I hope that in time we can get more charities, individuals and organisations on board, shout about them what they do and if we can gain them, more followers if we can get them to fundraise. If we can get them to work in some of the shops.
Fantastic, because volunteering no one ever regrets their time volunteering. I have never regretted a day, but I've spent my time giving it to either riding for the disabled or street bet or another. And I urge people to do it because there's nothing but positive.
If you've got some time and it doesn't always mean you've physically got to be somewhere. So my skills during Covid meant that I could work remotely and help remotely and that I would urge people to just offer a few hours and see how you get on. Yeah, No, absolutely.
We I am at the Webinar that we offer two charity days a year for all of our team. And one of the lads in the team he volunteers quite frequently, you know, and he absolutely loves it. And the feedback that he gives is just incredible.
So, yeah, absolutely agree. It's so important to do so. And I would I would absolutely urge companies as well watching this because where there's a little bit of a link here.
But when I worked for sa, I got the team to go to the Birmingham Donkey Sanctuary. And first, some of the staff were really And by the end of the day, a We had adopted a donkey, called Cisco, and we had helped do physical work around around the location. And everybody loved it.
And I urge companies to to get involved with a local charity even if it's painting fences, whatever it might be just one day a year if or more. Hopefully, that you can offer to help. And it's a great teambuilding event.
And I would urge people to do that. Yeah, absolutely. So where do you see this going and coming in the future?
What are sort of the goals and the vision for the future? Well, we've got 50 collaborators at the moment, and that's within two years of doing this. And I will hope that, there are more listening that would like to get involved.
I know there are companies out there individuals and organisations who understand the human animal bond and all we're trying to do is bring together and I I hashtag this quite a lot and I absolutely believe in it is charity community. No charities in in this organisation that we we put together are in competition with one another. As such, we're all trying to take a bit of maybe someone's time and attention or get them to follow us.
So I want to grow obviously the amount of followers that we have. I want to grow the amount of collaborators that we have and we talk about. I'd like next year to have a bigger event.
So last year it was completely remote. This year we're lucky we got it split remote and, people are able to meet and greet the presenters. Next year I would hope that we'll be able to go to one of the collaborators locations.
And again, we'll be able to present People can meet and greet and ask questions because I don't think there's anything people like much more than talking about their pets. I. I think there's We could always sit for hours and we can either talk and show photos of the ones we used to have or the ones we've got now and everybody's got stories and, people who get it, get it, and, there's a sort of a community around that and I think that's a great thing we'd like to share more of.
So I'd like to have more collaborators, more followers and a bigger event. See that animal health are very kind in and setting me up with this in the first place. I absolutely, think that company understand the human animal bond.
They work with a company called or a charity called Dogs for Good. And they're on board with this as well. And so I'd like I'd like more big charities to get involved.
I'd like more organisations and people who have got stories, and the thing I found is that the stories that gain the most traction are real life stories. They're people who have got a really positive story to tell or they've got something that, you know. It might have made them sad at the time, but they think it's worth sharing.
And it's the real life stories that seem to get attention more than, ones I might post from celebrities or such like it's it's real time. And that's that's that's all telling to me that the more we can share the better, and I can be I can assure you that if on Sunday we go out and we talk to those who are coming along to the Donkey sanctuary because dogs are allowed that as soon as we start talking, they'll tell us about their dog. They'll give us stories and and it's a lovely thing to share.
And, so I'm hoping that we can grow the platform. The numbers of people, sponsorship, always appreciate, because the more we can do, the bigger the event. The more people we can get involved.
We've had some fantastic prizes from companies that, and on the social media, I put out competitions very simple competitions for people to get involved in. So post a photo of your dog sleeping post a picture of your horse doing whatever, and, that's got people involved. So that's a nice thing as well.
So it's a community. Yeah, brilliant. Oh, that sounds great.
And if people are listening now, obviously it's only a few days away, so it is quite short notice, or they might even be kind of, you know, listening after the event happens. Is there any other ways that you'd want people to get involved or how How can people help if they'd like to? So, yeah, this year is pretty much sorted.
So if they can log on to the website, the agenda is on our website. They can go via our social media and all of the Facebook lives you can see so you can press interested or going. That's great.
If you're in the sidmouth area, please come along. You're not going to be able to watch the talks there and then because they're in a certain centre, part of the actual location that the public can't come to, but they will be shared later. And but no, just get involved this year regarding watching or popping along, sharing our social media posts to get involved in the competitions.
Excellent. Oh, that's great, Tammy. Thank you.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners? Before we wrap up today, I'd just like to I think a few, companies who have supported this, like I said, it's quite new. It was two years.
This is our second event live event. So, obviously all the street vet staff work very hard. In promoting a human animal bond on a daily basis.
They're volunteers are unique. Very much back then for what they're doing. They're all vets and nurses who are already working full time or part time, and then they go out and do outreach.
So thank you to all of those guys. I'd like to thank sa animal health for being supportive from day one. The meraki, meraki initiative have supported the videography, so we'll be able to record these.
So there's some people I'd like to thank. That helped me, organise all of this. So there's Mike, Laura and Carla.
Thank you. And I think, Yeah. And all the followers and the presenters who are coming on Sunday everybody's doing this out of goodwill.
No one's doing this to be paid. They're not doing it for that reason they're doing it because they believe in the animal bond. And please log on and have a look at the agenda.
We've got faith from the Donkey Sanctuary talking. We've got Peter Wright, the Yorkshire vet who's going to talk with me. We've got the wonderful Hercule Van Wolf Winkle.
And if you haven't heard of Hercule, please Google him we've got Esme Wheeler, who was from the RS PC A. We've got another an animal behaviour escort Andrew Hale. We've got the wood green and one that I'm particularly looking forward to is looking forward to, And it might get a bit emotional.
Is Diane James from the Blue Cross pet loss. And she is going to be talking about the fact of, giving up and losing. It is the hardest part of loving our animals.
So it's gonna be an emotional ride. Join us, bring tissues. And, I hope that everybody gains something from each of these talks.
Brilliant. Oh, well, best of luck, Tommy. It sounds fantastic.
I hope it all goes wonderfully for you. Thank you for your support. And the webinar there.
Thank you very much. Oh, no. Our pleasure.
And yeah, best of luck. We'll keep an eye out on all the socials and we'll tag everything as much as possible as well That we can see you next year. Hopefully, yes.
We'd love to. All right. Thanks very much.
Take care
