Dr. Harry Cooper

Dr Harry is a typical country vet – living on a picturesque property in Relbia, in northern Tasmania. At last count, his animal population included 27 horses (including Arabian stallions and a Welsh Riding Pony), eight dogs, 27 breeding cats, five house cats, 20 fantail pigeons, eight rabbits, four guinea pigs, seven coloured sheep and lambs, one peacock, a cockatiel, nine ducks and ducklings, two rats, Polly the Possum, Daisy the pet pig, and the latest additions Maltese Shih Tzus Buddy and Holly.

Previous experience
Dr Harry began his media career in a veterinary segment on a morning television talk show in Sydney, later becoming the resident veterinarian on Burke’s Backyard. He hosted his own series, Talk to the Animals in 1993, and later Harry’s Practice from 1997 up until 2003. Since 2004, Dr Harry has been part of the experienced and well respected Better Homes and Gardens team, giving viewers advice on their pets as well as his familiar house calls.

Born and raised in Sydney, Dr Harry graduated with second class honors from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Sydney University in December 1965, aged 21. After graduating, he spent several years working at the Gladesville Animal Hospital in NSW before moving to Europe where he spent most of his time working in the English countryside.

On his return to Australia, Dr Harry joined a partnership in Gladesville, NSW, specialising in horses, greyhounds and cage birds. As well as being a judge and show organiser, he also bred more than 1,000 birds and raced greyhounds. In 1980, he set up his own practice in Annangrove, NSW – still specialising in greyhounds and birds, before embarking on a media career in the mid-’80s. And, though he later had to ‘prune’ his vet practice to concentrate on his television career, he never gave it up completely.

In a Readers Digest poll in 2005, Dr Harry was ranked the fifth most trusted Australian, and the most trusted Australian male.