Our Team
Meet the Groodles Australia Team!
Groodles Australia is led by a small team of veterinary professionals and passionate volunteers.
Together, our veterinarians and veterinary nurses bring more than 75 years of combined experience across clinical practice, surgery, reproduction and animal welfare.
Twenty years since its founding, the program’s ethical breeding practices are still personally overseen by founder Dr Jeannet Kessels, a veterinarian with more than 40 years of experience. All proceeds go to charity, with over $750,000 donated to date.
We’re supported by a wonderful community of Champion Families and local volunteers who generously give their time — raising litters in their homes, supporting our team, and helping the program run day to day.
Dr Jeannet Kessels (BVSc Hons)
Our Founder, a Vet with 40+ years experience
Dr Jeannet Kessels graduated from the University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science with First Class Honours in 1986. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she developed particular expertise in surgery and reproduction, and built the Greater Springfield Veterinary Group from a small home clinic into a practice with three hospitals and over 50 staff.
As a veterinarian, Jeannet personally oversees all of Groodles Australia’s breeding practices.
Jeannet is also the founder and chair of Vets for Climate Action, which has grown into a community of over 2,000 supporters advocating for climate action across the veterinary profession. That work has since expanded internationally through the World Veterinary Environmental Alliance (WVEA), uniting veterinary professionals globally around climate, biodiversity and sustainability.
Jeannet founded Groodles Australia as a community enterprise that channels the joy of breeding gorgeous, healthy puppies into real charitable impact — over $750,000 has been donated so far to organisations in education, health and environment.
Her approach to all of her ventures reflects the same philosophy: health-first, relationship-driven, and guided by her motto, “Excellence with Heart.”
Samara Cannon (Cert IV Veterinary Nursing)
Groodles Australia’s Director and Vet Nurse with 18+ years experience
Samara Cannon is a Certificate IV qualified Veterinary Nurse with 16 years of experience across the veterinary industry, from clinic work to wildlife rescue — one of her fondest memories is helping release a platypus on the Murray River.
As a vet nurse, she has a particular focus on reproductive work, including artificial insemination, caesareans and neonatal care, and has completed further study in Breeding and Reproduction in Small Animals through VetPrac.
Samara joined Groodles Australia as a veterinary nurse and what started as an opportunity to try something new quickly became a passion.
She has since taken on the role of Director, overseeing the program’s broader direction from Albury Wodonga and making yearly trips back to Queensland for the annual Groodles get-together ‘Groodlepalooza‘.
She’s driven by seeing the real impact of the program — the lives changed through donations, and the assistance and therapy dogs that go on to do extraordinary work.
Amy Anstiss (BDes Hons, Visual Communication)
Groodles Australia’s Manager
Amy Anstiss holds a Bachelor of Design with Honours in Visual Communication from the University of Technology Sydney.
After working in studio roles she moved into freelancing, helping small businesses with branding, digital marketing and website design — skills she now brings to managing the day-to-day operations of Groodles Australia.
Amy grew up in Sydney where her family’s dachshund Rosie had two litters, sparking a lifelong love of dogs.
Now based on the Sunshine Coast with her husband, two daughters, Labradoodle and three guinea pigs, she’s driven by seeing how the program’s pups enrich lives and is focused on helping Groodles Australia reach its $1 million donation milestone.
Rhiannon Hancock (Cert IV Veterinary Nursing)
Veterinary Nurse with 5+ years experience
Rhiannon Hancock is a Certificate IV qualified Veterinary Nurse with over five years of experience.
She began her career as an Animal Attendant at the RSPCA, where she developed a focus on enrichment and animal welfare, before completing her nursing training with the team at Greater Springfield Veterinary.
Rhiannon has worked with Groodles Australia for several years and now plays a hands-on role in the program — she’s the person you’ll most likely see at puppy visits, ensuring our litters are healthy and well looked after.
Femke Dekker
Our Puppy Liaison Officer
Originally from the Netherlands, Femke trained as a primary school teacher before moving to Australia in 2010.
As a member of Jeannet’s family, she has a long connection to Groodles Australia. In 2016 her family adopted Madu, a gorgeous red standard poodle, raising three litters of puppies through the Champion Families program.
Having been through every stage of the process herself, she brings firsthand knowledge to the role.
As our Puppy Liaison Officer, Femke enjoys matching people with their perfect puppy and keeping everyone updated on new litters.
She lives on acreage with donkeys, goats, poultry, and her now happily retired Madu.
Mathilde Backhouse
Champion Support Volunteer
Mathilde Backhouse spent her career as an occupational therapist, first in Education Queensland and then working with young people diagnosed with neuromuscular conditions. She has also managed a respite service for young people and their families.
Mathilde runs the Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) program for Groodles Australia, carrying out the gentle handling exercises with each litter in their first weeks of life.
Her background in health and development is a natural fit — she has also trained three puppies as successful assistance dogs, for a child diagnosed with ASD and two adults with PTSD.
Mathilde herself has developed a visual impairment over the past ten years, and now communicates with families via phone or email using voice-to-text.
She has trained her own dog Meiske — a golden retriever and one of our beautiful breeding dogs — as a registered assistance dog.
Sue Richardson
Key Volunteer
Sue Richardson joined Groodles Australia as part of the Champion Families program, raising litters with her now-retired mini groodle Kiara.
Before that, she had spent years volunteering at an animal shelter, dedicating most of her weekends to caring for and training the animals.
She stepped back from the shelter to look after an unwell family member, and it was during this time that she joined the program. Kiara was a great comfort to her family member during a difficult period.
After Kiara retired from breeding, Sue wanted to stay involved and now supports other Champion Families, drawing on her own experience to help them through the process.
At home, Sue has one of Kiara’s puppies, Mr Hobbs, kept from one of her litters in the program. Together with older brother Jaspa, the three dogs join Sue on camping trips and beach swims — though Jaspa mostly prefers to supervise from a lying down position these days.
