Cathy A. Harris’ Post

🎤 I was asked recently why I wanted to work tackling wildlife crime and the illegal wildlife trade? Given how I’m currently looking for an entry role into the sector, it seems pretty sensible to share my response here! I grew up on a small, organic farm in Northern Ireland. Whilst still in primary school, I set my sights on being a vet and after many, many exams realised that goal in 2009. My first job was in an animal welfare in the Western Cape then after our return to the UK I progressed from assistant vet to a more managerial role in a busy, small animal clinic close to Belfast. I love that veterinary medicine is challenging with endless learning opportunities but over the years I no longer felt it aligned with my values and my deep-seated need to impact animal welfare on a far, greater scale. At the same time, climate change and biodiversity loss were hot topics and having just become a mother it felt imperative that I do something to help. Unsure where to start, I undertook some conservation specific career coaching and through that became more aware of wildlife crime and the illegal wildlife trade. As a vet, it’s quite clear I love animals, yet in my professional career my impact on animal welfare felt small scale. Here was the potential to amplify it! Not only that, but the sustainable use of natural resources was familiar to me given my upbringing on the farm where we strived to work in balance with nature. This felt like where I needed to be. 🌟 So that’s the long answer. The short answer is I am motivated and inspired by the cause, I have knowledge and skills which I know will help and I’m stubborn enough to keep at something until I’ve made a difference! I’m looking for roles in project management, investigative research, intel or science, areas where my transferable skills can be utilised and where my background is an asset. Get in touch! 📸 Big thanks to the great vets still loving their jobs and who stitched my poor Olive up yesterday. 🐶 #conservationcareers #careerswitcher #illegalwildifetrade #iwt #wildlifecrime

👋 Many of you know me as the founder of Autumn Animals or the environmental geographer who lived in Zanzibar for almost a year. My career has taken me to some exotic places in a variety of roles. But the one role I have filled for the longest period of my life has been that of a dog walker. Providing dog walking services in London has been my steady bread and butter for almost eight years and has supported my livelihood and Autumn Animals’ start-up phase. I have loved being a dog walker, as I have seen puppies grow into confident adult dogs and I have seen confident adult dogs grow into senior dogs and guided them through their end-of-life phase. Working outdoors in every season, seeing the city adopt more bike-friendly routes and dog-friendly parks, and teaching scared people in the park that most dogs are fine if you just act calm, has been immensely rewarding. I am now ready to leave dog walking behind me once and for all, and having been applying to jobs for a year, I thought it would be interesting to look at the vocation through the Job Descriptions-lingo lens. This week I’ll be sharing the 5 things I learned as a dog walker in London, starting with The Big One: 🐩 Leadership One of the most common comments I hear when I walk a group of six (calm!) dogs is “I find it difficult enough to control one dog, I don’t know how you control six of them!”. I have several standard answers for this, but the truth is that I don’t control the dogs. They look to me as their team leader, who leads from behind and uses positive reinforcement to encourage wanted behaviours. I encourage the dogs to BE DOGS within set boundaries. By using clear verbal and body language they understand, they know what is and isn’t allowed and that they will always be safe with me. They know they do not have to be afraid I will punish them for not coming back to me immediately after I called them. And I encourage kind and welcoming behaviour towards dogs who want to join our group for a short while. But most of all, I respect them for being living creatures, not robots whose sole purpose is to entertain us and be at our beck and call. Next up: Eye for detail 👀 Photo by Benni R.: An orchestra of pups #dog #petcare #petindustry #veterinary #dogowners #responsibledogownership #leadership

To anyone sucked in by some of the dross on LinkedIn, or to those just starting in the industry from university... I thought I'd put together a little piece , as I get put off by some dross on here ... hopefully it helps people entering this industry.. sift through the bs .. Dont believe all you read on here. Debbie the Dimfluencer is not a benchmark for your own success. Carve your own journey. Be influenced by others whom help you in your career and pass on knowledge without the need for gratification. After all "some" of the pearls of wisdom you read on here are written by those needing gratification and reassurance, likely working from a bedroom...or with daddy issues / other issues... posting as a way of therapy ... I surround myself by a small group of people in non competing specification companies and we work together as separate businesses and support each other . Collaboration works. Learn from others. "You cant survive in any role and soar like an eagle if you surround yourself with Turkeys " I've met a few and it wasn't even Christmas... A self appointed "industry leader" spouting off how great business is, in effect has small man syndrome..and is likely not that busy. Those issuing posts only liked by their own staff, may as well issue a group internal email and pat each other on the back Event photos only featuring staff, don't make "great events " despite the spiel Running your own business is very rewarding, but it also has its rougher times. ive just finished some database work at 4am for example..as I've been too busy to do it any other time. But on the positive I manage myself. Ive been lucky enough to learn from real industry leaders, those who support without the need for gratification. To anyone entering this industry and keen to learn about architectural specification in London, im happy to be shadowed if anyone wishes to have an insight. I've had others help me and believe in paying that forward... I fell into tiles as quit a job I disliked ... telling a boss to stick it plus some expletives 🤣🤣 I've never escaped the industry since 🤣 Domus took a chance on me, I simply said I was willing to learn and the rest was history...Alan Collie thanks for the life sentence 🤣🤣😉 I actually trained in animal management, Ecology and Wildlife studies, farm management, animal welfare and philosophy and nutrition. I've a degree in it . My proudest section is the sustainability and Wildlife studies and Ecology as I love the natural world. I formulated a fish food for rare Cichlids at London zoo and designed a breeding programme that was successful and is still used ... I aim to operate sustainably in my business... as it means something to me ... Harlequin is my business name as it was my dads first business also Harlequin.. more than just a written sustainability policy and more than just a tile salesman To Specify your next tile project contact

I love this quote; it sums up so many conversations myself and my team have with candidates and clients every day! Unhappy in your job or just feel a little stuck, I’ve seen it all before and been in that situation myself. We worry that if you leave this job, you might not like the next one and regret it. Maybe the team won’t be as nice. Maybe…maybe…maybe. The truth is, by choosing not to make a change, we’re choosing to stay in a place that (for whatever reason) isn’t making you happy and life is too short not to be happy. We see it so often with candidates who feel this way. Many are amazing at what they do but aren’t being fully appreciated, challenged, or valued in their current roles. Sometimes its not negative at all and they simply feel that they need a change because there is nowhere to progress. It’s easy to stay comfortable, but if you’re choosing comfort over fulfilment, you’re choosing a path that limits your growth. Remember, doing nothing is just as much a choice as change. #TempusRecruitment #TempusUSA #TempusUK #Veterinarycareers #Veterinarymedicine

🚨 Big news! Our brand-new website is LIVE! Whether you’re aspiring or an experienced professional, looking to transition into animal advocacy, we’ve got resources, career advice, and a new job board to amplify your impact. Why visit? ✴️ Discover exciting career opportunities. ✴️ Access free guides and tools. ✴️ Explore how you can make an impact for animals. 🔗 Click here: animaladvocacycareers.org SHARE this post to spread the word! #Launch #Website #Careers #Jobs #Opportunities #Advice

Lizards stuffed in tupperware, birds confined in cardboard tubes, cloth bound snakes and a red panda in a wicker basket! 🦎 🐦 🐍 Each week I listen to the Wild Crime Report by Matt Durrant. It’s a somewhat sardonic take on the most significant news stories in the sector and a useful way of appreciating the depths of the illegal wildlife trade. Last month the species listed above (and more!) were confiscated from the baggage of six Indian nationals in Bangkok. 🛄 In total they had 87 animals packaged inside their checked baggage on route to Mumbai! There’s a tendency to breathe a sigh of relief at this point. Thank goodness they’re safe, no longer destined for a life of misery as someone’s pet! It took me a while to ask the question, what happens next? It turns out, not many people know! In the resource, ‘Custodial Management of Trafficked Live Wild Animals’, published by Legal Atlas® in association with ifaw, The Jane Goodall Institute and Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) they discuss the absence of data regarding the fate of these confiscated specimens and the outcomes of any criminal prosecutions. To improve this, the publication aims to support legal jurisdictions in creating guidelines for managing confiscations. Until reading it, I hadn’t fully appreciated that these animals represent evidence of a crime and need to be handled in a way that helps ensure successful prosecutions of the criminals who took them. By having standardised procedures in place for everything from health assessments to transport methods and decision making on where they end up, the chances of seeing these animals survive and avoid simply being sold back to the illegal networks they came from, is much higher. The ultimate goal, as you can well imagine, is for each animal to be safely returned to where it came from and in a recent good news story and an excellent example of cross border cooperation, Brazil did just this, by successfully repatriating 12 Lear’s macaws and 17 Golden Lion Tamarins that had been trafficked to Togo (that’s all the way across the Atlantic) in a sailboat! ⛵ I think it would make a wonderful storyline for an animated kids movie, perhaps inspiring the next generation (and hopefully their parents) to change the world! Anyone got a contact with Disney? 🎬 🌟 I would love to learn more from anyone involved in the disposition of confiscated animals, so please do get in touch! 📢 As ever, my goal is to find work combatting the illegal wildlife trade.  As a vet with a background in sustainable agriculture I believe I have the skills to help, and I am looking for remote/hybrid roles in project management, investigative research, intelligence analysis or forensics. Let me know if you’d like to chat! 📸 Illegal wildlife trade pops up everywhere, it's even in my kids' library books! Frog Friends: Juliet and Charles Snape

📢 Exciting News! We've just launched our brand new website!! https://lnkd.in/dW5nR3bs Amongst many things it includes a brand new Job Board- with a job alert feature. Thank you to our users for your great feedback on this, without you we wouldn't have been able to learn how to do better! But it also has a brand new career guide to help you navigate your journey towards meaningful work! 🚀 Inside you'll find 28+ comprehensive articles covering: 🔹 Why work with animals 🔹 High-impact problem areas 🔹 Various career paths to explore 🔹 Practical job-hunting strategies But here's the best part – we want to hear from YOU! 💭 What career questions keep you up at night? 💭 What uncertainties are you facing? 💭 What specific guidance would help you move forward? Drop your thoughts in the comments below 👇 or DM me directly. Your input will help us create even more relevant resources to support your career transition. https://lnkd.in/dW5nR3bs #CareerTransition #CareerGuidance #MeaningfulWork #AnimalAdvocacy #CareerAdvice #ProfessionalDevelopment

Opportunity for Wildlife Veterinarians in Indonesia