About The Host Dr. Sy Woon BVSc, BSc(Vet)(Hons)

Now a loyal resident of Los Angeles, Dr. Sy Woon originates from Australia where she grew up in Canberra and graduated from the University of Sydney, ranked as the top veterinary school in the country. Since moving to the United States in 2015, she has worked extensively in private practices as well as at non-profit hospitals and rescues. During this time, she was appointed Medical Director at both Justin Bartlett Animal Hospital and Good Karma Pet Rescue of South Florida. She has also worked exclusively in mobile euthanasia and palliative care, and is currently undertaking her Veterinary Acupuncture certification with Chi University.

In 2022, Dr. Woon moved to Los Angeles to launch the LA branch of a mobile veterinary company and subsequently founded a private euthanasia service, Angel Wing Vets Los Angeles. For the past seven years, she has been the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA)’s Florida State Co-Representative which has involved advocating for and lobbying on animal welfare issues such as puppy mills and declawing, as well as supporting legislative reforms including representing the veterinary body in the campaign to ban greyhound racing in Florida; a feat which achieved a landslide victory. Having moved to LA, Dr. Woon was invited to continue her position with the HSVMA as a California State Co-Representative.

With her veterinary work recognized internationally, Dr. Woon is regarded as an expert on all topics pet-related - she has been invited as a veterinary guest to speak on radio shows, including NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’, Talking Animals on WNMF (88.5 FM), and podcasts such as ‘Humane Voices.’ She has also been interviewed for media reports including Good Day LA, ABC’s WPBF 25 News, Fox News, WESH2 News as well as being featured as a veterinary expert on news stations, including NBC and The Weather Channel. Amongst these, she was interviewed in a CBS News report documenting a dog meat trade emergency rescue for which she was the lead veterinarian. Dr. Woon’s viral pet education videos on Tiktok for both cats and dogs have garnered millions of views and reactions, thanks to her engaging and charismatic style.

Dr. Woon has spoken at multiple stateside and international conferences on animal welfare and ethics. She was awarded an international Davis Projects for Peace grant to carry out a rabies prevention and education project in India that she independently designed and carried out; has presented her research on humane veterinary education as an invited speaker at the 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Montreal; and her op-eds on social issues and her animal ethics research have been published in newspapers and journals, including the Sun Sentinel and ALTEX. Dr. Woon was furthermore invited by top US political platform, The Hill, to publish an op-ed on heat stress in dogs. She was also invited to provide her expert opinion for the Pet section of Martha Stewart's website.

During vet school, Dr. Woon was the longest serving President of the University of Sydney Animal Welfare Society and was heavily involved in campaigning on animal rights and welfare issues within her university, the local community and nationwide. She founded the Sydney University Vets Beyond Borders Student Chapter and was selected as the student representative on the university’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. Dr. Woon worked as Project Officer and Volunteer Coordinator for Medical Advances Without Animals (MAWA) Trust, and was involved with Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics as Student Coordinator, and then Committee Member. During this time, she was awarded a grant from Voiceless The Animal Protection Institute to fund her project proposal for an annual essay contest for vet students to encourage critical research into animals exploited in agriculture, entertainment and laboratories.

Most recently, she has been invited by Global Talent Partners (one of the world’s largest veterinary recruiting agencies) to create a lecture series for veterinary students, covering topics ranging from mental health & coping strategies in the profession to Dermatology, Animal Welfare & Behavior, Parasitology and more. Inspired by her passion for pet education and animal advocacy, Dr. Woon created PetParentsPro™ (www.petparentspro.com) a free educational video platform designed for pet parents, to educate about humane behavior training, emergency prevention, and welfare-friendly pet care tips.

In an effort to destigmatize the mental health crisis being faced in the often private veterinary world, Dr. Woon envisioned her revolutionary podcast, “The Secret Lives of Vets™”. By opening up these candid discussions and sharing these heartfelt and inspiring stories, Dr. Woon hopes to shed light on the startling and tragic suicide and mental health struggles pervading her profession. By delving into the fascinating, haphazard personal lives of her vet colleagues as well as divulging her own struggles, Dr. Woon uncovers the hard lessons learned, ultimately inspiring hope in fellow veterinarians and any listeners hearing of their resilience and successes.