Local pet care business honoured

FAMILY-OWNED pet accommodation and day care business Pets Country Club has been deeply rooted within the Lara community since 1996.

It was a lifelong passion for dogs that first brought the Hill family to the area, a significant pivot at the time for Yvonne and Alan Hill who left their jobs with the Australian Taxation Office and as an industrial chemist, respectively, to take the leap.

Almost two decades later, with the business now safely in the hands of daughters Lauren and Ashleigh, it is that same passion that continues to propel the business forward and has secured its reputation as one of Geelong’s premier pet care operations.

Building on this success, Pets Country Club has this year been named a finalist in the 2024 Geelong Business Excellence Awards (GBEAs), sponsored by LBW Business + Wealth Advisors.

It marks the business’s first entry to the prestigious awards, sparked by a nomination from fellow business owner Jessica Anderson of Crew Faced Makeup Artistry, a previous GBEA award winner.

Pets Country Club chief executive Lauren Hill said the GBEAs had been on the business’s radar for a while, and it had been exciting to finally take the plunge.

“We were absolutely thrilled when we were named as one of the finalists,” she said.

“The whole awards program gives the opportunity to have a really good strategic deep dive into the business.

“We often get – especially in small business – we get carried away with doing the day-to-day and focus on daily tasks.

“This gives us that opportunity to step back and really assess everything we’re doing from [the] many angles required to be a successful business and just [to] make sure we are ticking all those boxes.”

Situated on a five-acre purpose-built property at Elcho Park, Pets Country Club provides overnight accommodation and day care for cats, dogs and other small domestic animals, one of the few facilities in the region able to cater to a range of pets that broad.

The business prioritises the safety, hygiene and comfort of all the pets under its care, and offers a wide range of amenities, including Australia’s first Splash Park made for dogs, but Ms Hill said it was the business’s customised and hands-on approach that really set it apart.

“Ashleigh and I are physically here in the business day-to-day. We’re here, we greet our clients, we know them really well.

“We’ve seen multi-generational families, whether that’s through their animals or even their kids [who have] grown up and they’ve got their own pets and they’re continuing to come and stay with us, with their own pets, during their holidays.

“It’s that personal touch. Knowing every one of those animals really, really, really well. Knowing what they love, knowing what they don’t like, really customising their stays and their care according to the pet’s needs.”

For more information, or to secure your tickets to the GBEA presentation event on October 17, head to gbea.com.au