Racing Safely for Peter Symons – Veterinarian
Veterinarian Peter Symons is one of the 24,000 participants who is employed or participates in the Western Australian racing industry.
It is because of our industry participants, such as Peter, that we continue to do everything in our power to ensure we can continue to race safely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peter is known in the industry as a regulatory veterinarian who looks after the horses’ health and welfare while on-course.
Peter says he enjoys his job because of his love for the animals, as well as the people.
“After 30 years as a veterinarian, I know the industry expect three things of me – that I am honest, that I can communicate effectively with trainers and owners, and that I know my veterinary science. At the end of the day, my goal is to treat everyone fairly and respectfully.”
“Some decisions are made within a tight timeframe, but they are very important because they could potentially affect the horse and the jockey riding it. I have always said that at the end of my career, I would like to be able to say I did my part in keeping everyone safe on the racetrack.”
Peter is impressed with how the industry has worked together to keep racing going during the outbreak of COVID-19.
“It has been inspiring to see such a diverse industry from all over WA maintain the discipline to keep the industry going for a prolonged period to everyone’s benefit. The industry can be really proud of the example it has set.”
Peter comes from a racing family, with his father and brother training horses for 20 and 30 years respectively.
Since 16 March 2020, we have been working together as an industry to implement a range of strict bio-security measures to ensure the continuation of racing during COVID-19.
Once again RWWA would like to thank our racing participants for their continuous understanding and support through these uncertain times.
We are in this, TOGETHER.