Joyce Guest and Melinda Angel have marked a special milestone at the Leeton Veterinary Hospital

The pair have both registered 20 years of service with the Leeton Veterinary Hospital after the pair started within the same week as each other. For Mrs Guest, that number is also even more than that.

"Before this batch of 20 years, I did work here before having children, so all up it's probably been around 35 years," Mrs Guest said.

"So I started here, had my kids, did a little bit of work elsewhere and then came back. It's been a great place to work both under Brian (Munro) and now with Peter (Brunsdon).

"When I first started I would be doing office and admin work in the morning and then vet nursing in the afternoon. I've tried a little bit of everything."

Ms Angel's journey to be at the Leeton Veterinary Hospital was a different one.

She spent most of her time growing up in Cooma and, after finishing school, thought a career in photography was something she might like to take up.

After trying that out, Ms Angel went back to her first love of veterinary nursing.

"I've always loved animals and it was always something I wanted to do ... my careers teaching actually told me I wouldn't get into vet nursing because I hadn't studied the right subjects, but here I am.

"I love coming into work every day.

"Each day is different.

"You can walk in here expecting to see what's on the schedule - surgeries, desexing, vaccinations, but midway through that you might have something being rushed in that's had a snake bite or you've got to quickly dash to a farm because there's a heffer having trouble calving.

"No day ever runs smoothly, but I love doing it. My love for animals has always been there."

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Both Ms Angel and Mrs Guest said the other favourite part of their roles was always seeing and helping their customers and their owners.

"Some days people just need a friendly face, especially if the outcome for their pet or furry friend hasn't been a good one ... we try to be there for them," Mrs Guest said.

"The flip side of that of course is the joy of seeing animals getting better and being fit and healthy. The people we work with are also a big part of why we love it."

This was a sentiment echoed by Ms Angel, who said caring for both a furry friend and their owner was part and parcel of the job.

"It's a busy job, but it's so rewarding," she said.

"I also think it's an important service we have here in the community."

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