Introducing the Butterwick Animal Rehab Team
Mark Harding
Veterinary Physiotherapist and Owner
Mark left the Army in 2004 after 13 years and multiple operational tours. He wanted to work with dogs at a young age but wasn’t the opportunities there are now so joined the Army instead.
Mark is a regular lecturer at a number of institutions, University of Nottingham Vet school and Hawksmoor. He started his journey into Canine rehabilitation in 2004 following his dog being diagnosed with severe Hip dysplasia.
Mark is passionate about dogs getting better and living their best life. He oversees the treatment plans for all our patients and is constantly looking for new ways to explain things to mum’s and dad’s, often partial to a good analogy or metaphor and has been known to throw in the odd drawing but it’s fair to say “art” was never his strong point.
He also is very passionate about our staff development and is constantly looking for new ways to enable us to understand dogs and their owners. Mark has over recent years been asked to help train the future generations of Veterinary physiotherapists and hydrotherapists so that they too can help owners.
Mark is the very proud dad to Ben and Harry.
Qualifications:
Post Grad Veterinary Physiotherapy
Post Grad Clinical education
Level 4 Canine hydrotherapy
Level 3 Canine hydrotherapy
Favourites:
Food(s) – Beef Stew and dumplings, closely followed by Shepherd’s pie, Gurkha Curry
Restaurant – Chadwicks, Table Talk Indian restaurant
Place – Brimham rocks
Holiday destination – Cyprus, North Carolina
City or Countryside – Countryside
TV show – Morse/Endeavour
Film – Top Gun
Celebrity – Winston Churchill
Singer/Group – Robbie Williams, let’s not mention Taylor swift….
Sport – errrr
Team – England rugby
Hobbies – Spending time with my dog Izzy, cooking
Gail Linstead
Front desk Superstar
Gail grew up in Hartlepool on the North East Coast before moving to County Durham. During her childhood she was surrounded by animals including dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs. Although she has previously owned dogs her current furry family is made up of Skadi the Norwegian Forest Cat and Kaldr the Maine Coon.
Gail worked for the NHS for nearly twenty years before deciding that a change of career was on the cards. Although she has always had a love of animals, volunteering at a Wildlife Sanctuary in Laos made her decide that working with animals was the direction she wanted to take.
Gail loves travelling and spending time outdoors cycling, climbing and paddleboarding
Food – Sunday Roast
Restaurant – Toomany to choose from, I just enjoy food!
Place – Lake District
Holiday – Croatia/Germany
City/Countryside – Countryside
TV – 12 Monkeys, Gordon Gino and Fred’s Road Trip
Film – Stand by Me
Celebrity – Keanu Reeves
Singer/Group – Corey Taylor
Sport – Climbing/Cycling
Team – Ineos Grenadiers
Hobbies – Climbing, Cycling, Paddleboarding…….eating!
Claire Brown
Canine Hydrotherapist
Claire grew up in East Rainton, a small village in Houghton-le-Spring. She has always had lots of pets growing up including guinea pigs, rats, chinchillas, cats and dogs. Animals have always been her true passion in life.
After a holiday in Asia and seeing all the poorly stray dogs, Claire decided she wanted to dedicate her life to helping dogs in need. And yes, most of the stray dogs were smuggled into her hotel room for food and a comfy bed for the night! She has undertaken animal care and first aid courses and has 4 years’ experience as a canine hydrotherapist.
Claire loves nothing more than going on adventures to new places with her two dogs, Poppy and Mavis.
Favourites:
Food – Fajitas
Restaurant – barrio comida in Durham, tacos yum!
Place – anywhere in woodlands
Holiday – the Philippines or anywhere in Asia
City / Countryside – countryside
TV – I love a drama!
Film – pretty woman or dirty dancing
Celebrity – Celeste Barber
Singer / Group – Otis Redding or Bob Marley
Sport – I’m not a massive sport fan
Team – England
Hobbies – Surfing, dog walks, macrame
Vicky Wilton
Canine Hydrotherapist
Vicky grew up in a small village in County Durham, from a young age she discovered she felt more at peace with animals than anything else. Moving to London at 16 she pursued a career working with children. 6 years later a summer trip back home to the countryside awakened her passion and was enrolled on a course for Animal management to start only a month later. This was the start of her passion for helping animals in need and a 7 year veterinary career came of the back of completing her diploma.
Vicky is a mother of two boys and has two dogs, sky and sully. Her free time is spent in the countryside enjoying time with her family.
Favourites:
Food – Mexican, street food, tapas, thai, seafood and a good old English breakfast…..and the list goes on!
Restaurant – Like discovering new places
Place – Roker Pier has a special place in my heart
Holiday – The Maldives
City / Countryside – Countryside
TV – A good real life docu-series and nature/animal programs
Film – Horror, fantasy and action
Celebrity – Not a fan of celebrity culture, however there’s only one choice for me…. Sir David Attenborough
Music – Most genres, mood dependent
Sport – Watching football, mainly only England even though it’s often painful to watch, Boxing (I don’t do either).
Team – England
Hobbies – I’m a mum, so my hobbies include, taking the kids to their hobbies and spending time in nature with my kids and dog. Always ready for a new experience or adventure when opportunity arises.