Australian veterinarian Charlie Forde worked for four years as an emergency vet in her home country before moving to Los Angeles and becoming a content creator. Now, she combines her veterinary experience with fundraising for animal organizations.
Every month, Forde picks one animal organization, raises funds and awareness for it, and then volunteers with it, she told Where Is The Buzz in a personal interview. Currently, her target is The Happy Herd, an animal sanctuary for rescued farm animals in Canada. Forde seeks to raise $15,000 to provide the necessary feed. She is also planning her next trip to Ukraine, where she will volunteer in collaboration with Global Animal Rescue and Response.
“I never stopped considering myself a vet,” Forde noted.
Forde claims that quitting her clinical practice has created a bigger gap than she expected.
“I left full-time clinical practice in February 2023 when I moved to Los Angeles from four years of emergency medicine practice in Australia, and I missed it more than I anticipated,” she said. “I missed the animals, the problem-solving, and the feeling that what I’m doing matters.”
Returning to work in an emergency clinic has felt inappropriate for her.
“What I was unprepared for was going back to night shifts,” Forde added. “I’m also waiting for the results of the licensing exam in order to practice in America, and I didn’t want my skills to go rusty while I wait. The monthly volunteering series became my answer to both challenges. Each month I choose an animal organization, raise money and awareness for it, then go there and volunteer.”
Training to continue practicing makes her happy.
“Training for veterinary practice has felt like coming home in many ways,” Forde said. “I’ve missed the impact of my job, and I’m glad to rediscover my skills once again in collaboration with other devoted organizations and veterinarians.”
Farm animals require special treatment compared with dogs and cats.
“My veterinary education covered various species, including cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, and poultry. However, my working life has been connected with dogs and cats. So, I’m not going to pretend otherwise,” Forde noted.
Some skills gained in the emergency department apply to other species, but most don’t.
“Some aspects of emergency medicine are applicable to all species: triaging, pain relief, fluids, wound care, being able to stay calm when an animal deteriorates,” Forde explained. “Much of it isn’t.” Not all goats are just a smaller species of dogs. Their physiology, drug dosages, and the fact that these are prey species and are hiding any symptoms they might have – all of it is different.
“For the past several years, I’ve tried to learn on my own in order to keep myself informed and updated,” she added. “I’ve always been interested in exotic animals and have tried to keep myself updated with my independent research channels.”
Forde also said that she will not be the only veterinarian on duty.
“Keep in mind that when I’m volunteering with established organizations, they already have veterinarians familiar with these animals,” Forde stated. “I’m there to assist them and help the teams taking care of the animals daily, not to substitute them. I will get to work with lots of excellent veterinarians who will help me fill and expand my knowledge gaps.”
Forde also noted that veterinarians do not rely solely on memory.
“We have a lot of sources for information access as well, like VIN,” Forde mentioned, referring to the Veterinary Information Network. “VIN is a real lifesaver for each veterinary clinic because, quite frankly, we cannot know everything.”
Requirements for veterinary licensing differ from country to country and from state or province to state or province.
“This is the question that I take most seriously because being a veterinarian in one country doesn’t mean that I’m one in another,” Forde said. “I have qualified and practiced as a veterinarian in Australia, and now I’m working to get my U.S. license.”
Forde said that no matter which country she volunteers in, she abides by one rule.
“No matter where I’m traveling, the rule is the same: I only do what I’m legally allowed to do in this country, and I check it before my arrival with the organization,” she said.
But what exactly she is allowed to do depends on the country.
“Some countries that lack the number of veterinarians recognize my Australian veterinary degree and are glad for me to work with their veterinarians,” Forde mentioned. “In places where I don’t have a license, there’s still a lot that I can do to help a veterinarian. I work under his direction in the same way as a veterinary nurse does, which, depending on the country, means placing an IV line or monitoring anesthesia and recovery. Whatever local staff allows me to do, I do.”
Not all trips will require Forde to treat animals.
“But sometimes the most important thing that I can bring is awareness, especially in conservation cases,” she stated.
For her next trip to Ukraine, Forde will collaborate with an established rescue organization.
“In Ukraine, I’m going with Global Animal Rescue and Response,” Forde mentioned. “This is an organization that works with local veterinarians, shelters, and even human medics in order to organize evacuation and transportation of animals, as well as providing medical assistance for shelters and veterinarians and delivering necessary things for the animals, like food or supplies.”
Forde notes that she chooses each organization very carefully before raising money for it.
“I start with analyzing the work of this organization,” Forde explained. “What are they doing for animals, how long have they been doing it, and can I see where the money goes? The Happy Herd has been providing rescued cows, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, and chickens with their new home since 2012.”
After that, she interviews representatives of the organization.
“After this, I contact the representatives of the organization and ask them what they need, in their own words,” she stated. “Typically, I request to speak to their veterinarians; I search for any proof of their activity on the web or ask for references. Usually, organizations that have an impact on the animal world leave a clear trace behind.”
She also has a list of warnings.
“The red flags that will make me walk away are any breeding or selling of the animals for profit, vague explanations of the usage of the money, the number of animals is bigger than the organization can handle, no collaboration with a local veterinarian, or the animals treated as a decoration for the visits,” she noted.
The organization’s needs are usually more serious than a veterinarian.
“It is usually something less dramatic than the surgery,” Forde stated. “For Happy Herd it is the feed, and so I’m raising $15,000 in order to cover their feed. In Ukraine, the clinics I’ll help sent a list of necessary supplies: surgical disposables, vaccines, crates, a generator. Money and supplies appear much more often than a helping hand, and my visit is the most helpful when it provides both.”
Forde has promised to provide receipts of every payment she made.
“I’m asking strangers on the internet for money, and they deserve to know where it has gone,” she said. “I’m fundraising as an individual, not as a registered charity, and I don’t have audited accounts. But what I can do is make it simple enough to check.”
Forde notes that she pays her own expenses herself.
“I pay for my travel, filming, and living expenses on my own,” she added. “Every dollar is going straight to the organization. I base my contribution on what they need, and I provide a receipt or confirmation of each payment.”
Some skeptics have doubted her intentions.
“Skepticism is natural in such situations,” Forde said. “Someone asked for charity verification and transparency reports before he donated money. I don’t mind that. Anyone who is raising money online should expect questions from people, no matter what he does for a living.”
But not all organizations welcomed her attention.
“Overall, the charities have been quite interested in what I’m doing, she mentioned. Some of them lacked the infrastructure to accept my visit, a big donation, or any publicity, and they have refused,” Ford says. “However, my current charity, the Happy Herd, has shared and collaborated on posts with me for about eight times.”
She has experienced the cost of veterinary care both from the patient’s and veterinarian’s side.
“When I was an emergency veterinarian, I discounted the bills so often that I couldn’t pick out a single story,” she recalled. “Most of the patients visiting the emergency clinic haven’t planned to visit us, and I tried to help them to afford the necessary treatment.”
However, the situation has changed later.
“Then I found myself on the opposite side,” she stated.
Her dog required emergency medical treatment at the wrong time.
“Right after I got the spinal surgery, five months of living without income, my beagle got meningitis, and I couldn’t cover the bills,” Forde explained. “And the fans contributed to the GoFundMe to help me. I understand what it is like to be in that situation and what it means to be supported.”
Both experiences have led her to the same conclusion.
“Being on both sides of the counter taught me the same lesson,” she said. “Money plays a bigger role in animal treatment than the medication. As a veterinarian, I could do something for almost all of the animals that needed help, but not always could I afford it.”
Crowdfunding helped her find the solution.
“That is what this series aims to solve,” Forde said. “Sanctuaries and rescues rarely lack volunteers. What they lack is funding for feeding, supplies, and veterinary expenses, and I’m using my platform in order to solve this problem. With crowdfunding, I covered my dog’s bills, and now I’m running it for other animals.”
Also, the back surgery affects her trip planning.
“As for my back, I don’t sign up for long surgeries right now,” she said. “These are short, planned trips, and I won’t be performing surgery on each one of them, so I can manage them in a way I couldn’t while working on back-to-back night shifts.”
Forde corrected her previous statement about her next trip to Canada.
“One correction first: my audience won’t be watching me perform surgery on a goat in Canada,” she stated. “The Happy Herd sanctuary doesn’t have an in-house veterinarian, and I’m here to show how they take care of the animals.”
Many of Forde’s subscribers know her for her adult content, and she said they make up the largest share of her donors.
“My fans have been my most generous supporters, and some of the biggest donations have come from people who discovered me due to my adult content,” she said. “This surprises people, as if someone can’t enjoy adult content and care about animals simultaneously.”
She still remembers the gift that impressed her.
“A $700 gift was provided by a woman who didn’t leave any notes,” she added. “And I don’t know which of my versions she liked and decided to give the gift, but I decided that it doesn’t matter. This money will go to feed anyway.”
Her fellow veterinarians have welcomed her warmly.
“The veterinarian community has been very supportive,” Forde noted. “Even a few veterinarians admitted that they worked in the adult industry in order to pay the bills while working as a vet, and they appreciate seeing someone who has similar experience. It creates a really beautiful and empathic community.”
Animal charities have also shown themselves willing to collaborate with her.
“To date, no organizations have rejected me because of my second career,” she stated. “Organizations really don’t care where the help comes from, as long as there’s help.”
For now, her target is the sanctuary in Canada.
“Happy Herd has been so responsive, supportive, and gracious with their time, and I’m happy to help them survive,” Forde said.
