Former ballet dancer pirouettes into a new career in animal care

Corowa’s Kristy Critelli is not fazed by pirouetting into a new career – she’s done it twice now in the past decade and believes she’s finally found her niche.

A casual mention from a friend about looking into training opportunities saw Kristy realise a childhood dream as she turned to TAFE NSW’s National Environment Centre to gain the practical skills and experience to launch a new career in animal care.

Kristy’s career change comes at a time when vet nursing jobs are in a steep growth phase nationally, with Jobs and Skills Australia predicting the number of nurses will skyrocket from the current number of 10,700 to 17,800 by 2026.

She has recently completed a Certificate II in Animal Care and will next year undertake a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing.

The 32-year-old was originally destined for the stage when she left high school. A promising ballet career saw the dance teacher about to audition for a major role which was sidelined after a back injury forced her to reconsider her future.

“I had to step away from that. When my dancing career ended, it was difficult, but life happens, and I focused on the next chapter of my career. Prior to completing this course, I had my own business selling art supplies.

“I want to do something different though, than catering to customers. I’ve always had animals and pets and love their company so I thought animal care would be a nice side-step to get out of retail.

“I knew it was the right fit; growing up I was always saving something – drop tail lizards, birds, baby rabbits; I would bring anything home. I liked the idea of being in a caring role back then and I still do now.

“After doing my TAFE NSW animal care course this year, I realised this was my passion and I now want to become a vet nurse.”

Kristy said her TAFE course, based on a 180-hectare farm in Thurgoona, allowed her to hone her hands-on animal care skills.

She said it was the location and the lecturers that made the course so interesting.

“Because we were studying on a working farm, we were able to have a lot of contact with orphaned lambs and piglets,” she said.

“It gave us great insights into so many different aspects of the animal care industry.

“Our teachers had so much industry experience too and were really invested in us succeeding. Ashley had been a registered vet nurse for 15 years and Maria had a background in agriculture, so we were exposed to two different career paths, which gave us a really good outlook as a whole.

“They made a real impact and provided a much clearer picture of where we could and couldn’t go in the future.”

Kristy is now set to undertake work placement at a local vet clinic and said once she completes her vet nursing course, she hopes to specialise in caring for wildlife.

“I’m really looking forward to getting in and hands-on. I will probably start working with domestic animals but I’d like to get involved with groups such as WIRES and the like.

“The work placement starts off as an unpaid position, but of course, I’m hopeful it will lead into a paid one.”

TAFE NSW team leader of animal science and agriculture Jenny O’Donnell, a practising veterinarian, said the TAFE NSW National Environment Centre animal studies courses offered students a gateway to careers in pet shops, pet shelters, vet nursing, pet grooming or working with exotic and captive exhibited animals.

“COVID really accelerated the popularity of pets and the industry is expanding massively at the moment,” Ms O’Donnell said.

You can find out more about the animal care courses at TAFE NSW.