Tropical Vets Tully: Cassowaries, caravanning clients and community connection
When Dr Hannah Butler was weighing up where to start her career as a new graduate in 2018, three things set Tropical Vets Tully apart.
"I think it was the great team, the amount of case variety in this region… and definitely the chance to work with cassowaries," Hannah says.
The clinic made a lasting impression during her final-year placement at James Cook University. Eight years on, Hannah is a valued member of a practice that has long been the go-to clinic for locals and visitors alike, caring for everything from dogs, cats and pocket pets, to horses, cattle and the region's most famous birds.
A long history in Tully
Tropical Vets began in Innisfail in 1975 and soon started making regular trips south to Tully. The full-time Tully clinic opened in 1991, first in the Tully Arcade before moving to its current home on Bryant Street.
As one of the original clinics, Tully has a loyal following. "You get a lot of older clients who reminisce about the early days," Hannah says. Tropical Vets Tully has been a fixture of the local community for decades, and the team are proud to offer a full range of services for both small and large animals.
Patients of all shapes and sizes
On the small animal side, the team sees dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, pocket pets and wildlife, offering vaccinations, dental and lameness checks, general consults, plenty of soft tissue surgery and the occasional orthopaedic procedure. The clinic also has dental x-ray equipment, which not every Tropical Vets clinic offers, giving the team a clear picture of what's happening below the gum line.
Large animals make up around 15% of the clinic's work. As well as visiting on farm, horses can be brought in for dentals and other procedures such as mare scans, using the onsite dental equipment and crush, with a stable and yard out the back for a safe, quiet recovery from sedation.
"We've got a really big backyard in Tully, which is amazing," Hannah says. "There's plenty of space for owners to bring their float in, which is a great option to save on travel fees."
For cattle, Tropical Vets Tully offers a full range of services including disease and fertility investigations, as well as pregnancy and pestivirus testing, and emergency services like prolapses and calvings.
Seasonal trends in cases
The caseload shifts with the seasons. Breeding season brings in mare scans, and cattle pregnancy testing follows its own rhythm through the year.
The dry season changes the small animal crowd, too. "We see a lot more cats and dogs in the dry season, because you've got all the travellers coming through to Mission Beach," Hannah says. Many are enjoying a North Queensland winter in their holiday home or passing through on a caravanning road trip.
A day in the life
Each morning starts with checking on hospital patients. Surgery admits run from 8:00am to 8:30am, followed by morning rounds. One vet then heads into surgery while the consulting vets see patients through until 5pm.
"Our consulting vets will start their appointments, which could be anything," Hannah says. "If we've got three vets on, one of them might be out at a horse call in the morning while the others are consulting or in surgery. There's great variety in our roles."
The surgery vet's afternoon is kept flexible for large animal call-outs or emergencies. As the day winds down, the vets catch up on records and drug registers, the nurses close out admin and cleaning, and hospital patients are settled in for the evening.
Caring for cassowaries
One of the most rewarding parts of working in Tully, Hannah says, is helping care for cassowaries.
"I've had chicks that have come in at two and a half kilos and we've had them in care for 10 months, and then seeing them be released is pretty cool," she says. "Something different and unique to the area."
By release, the chicks weigh around 20 kilograms. They're still brown-feathered juveniles, with release timed to match when they'd naturally leave their father and head out on their own.
Part of the community
The Tully team is a familiar face at local events. The clinic has been involved in the Tully Show and sponsors Lope and Hope, a North Queensland Western Performance Horse Club show that draws competitors from across the region, including the Tablelands, and supports the Cancer Council, raising $1452 in 2026. This year, one of the Tully clinic's nurses even competed in the show alongside her children.
Tropical Vets also sponsors the pet section of Mission Arts' annual FOCUS Photography Awards Exhibition at Mission Beach, which Hannah, a keen amateur photographer, enjoys entering herself.
"It's always a really good community event," she says. "I chat to a lot of clients while I'm there, even some who I met years ago have remembered me and come over to say hello. There's a great sense of connection in this region."
From cassowary chicks to caravanning cats and dogs, and clients who've been coming through the doors for decades, Tropical Vets Tully is woven into the life of the Cassowary Coast. For Hannah, the team, variety, and connection that drew her in as a new graduate are still what make Tully a special place to work.
