Published and peer-reviewed
Co-author of 2 peer-reviewed papers, one of which was awarded Most Commendable Paper in the Australian Veterinary Journal in 2024.
Speaking, media and writing
A qualified veterinary voice
Conference sessions, caregiver information evenings, expo appearances, interviews and written articles on animal behaviour, Fear Free care and the human end of veterinary practice.
Pet behaviour is an unregulated field, so the loudest voice in a story is often not a qualified one. Dr Chantelle "Channy" McGowan (they/them) is a registered veterinarian with formal college qualifications in behaviour medicine, and has the media training to make that usable inside a 90 second segment.
Working on a deadline?
Media contact, straight through
Put your deadline in the first line and you will get a yes or a no quickly, rather than a maybe. If the story needs someone with different qualifications, you will be told that and, where possible, pointed to the right person.
Phone0411 261 934
Emailinfo@calmpetvet.com.au
Based inAdelaide, South AustraliaRegistered in South Australia and Victoria. Remote, studio or phone.
Background
Why this voice holds up under scrutiny
Everything below is verifiable, which matters more than usual in a field where anyone can claim anything.
Formal behaviour qualifications
BVSc, MANZCVS in the Veterinary Behaviour Chapter (2023), and Elite Fear Free Certified Professional and Coach. A registered veterinarian since 2011.
Media trained
Extensive media training, and the public-facing veterinary voice for Adaptil and Feliway on keeping cats and dogs happy at home.
Profession-building work
Helped found The Veterinary Kaleidoscope, which runs a world-first veterinary inclusion and diversity conference, and has been heavily involved with the Australian Rainbow Vets and Allies.
Before founding The Calm Pet Vet, Dr Channy was Head Veterinarian at an ISFM-accredited cat-friendly clinic and a Scientific Services Veterinarian for an international pet nutrition company, lecturing on nutrition and behaviour across Australia and overseas. Lecture theatres, expo stages and live radio are all familiar rooms.
Formats
Rooms, stages, studios and pages
Conference sessions
Plenary, breakout or workshop format for veterinary and allied audiences, including practical handling sessions where the room can get up and try something.
Caregiver information evenings
Talks for pet owners hosted by practices, councils, rescue groups or community organisations. Pitched at people who love their animal and have been given contradictory advice by 4 different sources.
Expos and public events
Stage appearances and stand work at consumer pet events, including the Melbourne Cat Expo and Pet Expo events. Short-format, interruption-heavy, and a very different skill to a lecture theatre.
Television, radio and podcasts
Studio, remote or phone. Comfortable with live segments, tight time limits and the presenter changing direction halfway through the question.
Social and video collaborations
Short-form video and campaign work with brands and organisations, where the veterinary content has to survive being cut to 45 seconds.
Written articles and commentary
Features, columns and quoted commentary for both consumer publications and the veterinary press, written to the brief rather than to a word count.
Topics
One voice, 2 very different rooms
The same material does not work in both rooms, and pretending otherwise is how a session loses everybody.
For veterinary and allied audiences
- Implementing Fear Free in a practice that is already busy
- Behaviour medicine inside a general practice consult, not as a referral afterthought
- The first-opinion work-up for a behaviour case, and what to document
- Feline-friendly practice and where most clinics lose cats
- Inclusion and diversity in veterinary workplaces
- Talking to owners about behaviour without triggering defensiveness
For caregiver and public audiences
- Why the vet clinic frightens so many pets, and what owners can change
- Anxiety in dogs and cats, and what actually helps
- Bringing home a new pet, and introductions that do not go wrong
- Senior pets: cognitive change, pain and behaviour that shifts with age
- Choosing a trainer in an industry with no regulation at all
- Quality of life, and how families think about the last chapter
Make it easy
What to include in your enquiry
Send these 6 things and you will get a straight answer in one reply rather than a chain of clarifying emails.
- 1Date, time and location, or the recording window
- 2Audience: veterinary, allied professional, or pet owners
- 3Format and length, and whether questions are taken from the floor
- 4The angle you want, and anything you specifically do not want covered
- 5Whether the session is recorded, streamed or reused afterwards
- 6Your budget, or that there is not one, which is a fine answer
Ground rules
What will not happen
No quick-fix segment. There is no set of tips that resolves separation distress or aggression in a 3 minute slot, and framing it that way sends owners home to try something that will not work and to feel like a failure when it does not.
No product endorsement that has not been used in practice, and no claim of a guaranteed outcome. Anyone promising to fix your dog is selling bull-dust, and that holds on air as much as it does in a consult room.
Where a question sits outside these qualifications, the answer will be that it does, along with a pointer to a registered veterinary specialist or to the appropriate body. That is a better story than a confident guess.
Booking a speaker or an interview
Conference organisers, practice managers running a client evening, event producers and journalists are all welcome to make contact directly. Deadlines are respected.
Related
- Fear Free training for veterinary teams for practice-specific handling education.
- Vet-to-vet behaviour consulting for behaviour cases that have declined referral.