Stanley Sim
Senior Animal Rehabilitation Assistant
Degree in Sports Science
(Low-Level Laser Therapy Technician)
(Low Stress Handling Silver Certification)
With a degree in Sports Science, Stanley has been in the sports training and rehabilitation field for 7 years. Working with physiotherapists, Stanley utilises his strength and conditioning knowledge to help strengthen post-op / injured athletes back to sports safely. With the experience, he sees the importance of consistency and progression, and that not everyone responds the same to a training program. Thus, understanding and observation are important values to an effective training program. Just like improving the well being of individuals, he finds joy and satisfaction in helping injured animals. Stanley was also a wildlife rescue officer with ACRES for 2 years.
Being an animal and wildlife advocate, it has always been his goal to help animals. When the opportunity to learn animal rehabilitation with Chris and Karen came, he decided to make a career switch and embark on the healing journey for animals.
When he’s free he spends time with his rescue bunny Aqua, whose rehabilitation journey is an inspiration to help others.
Ezora Wong
Animal Rehabilitation Assistant
Physiotherapist
When the dreams of being a Veterinarian were dashed, Ezora went on to pursue a Degree in Physiotherapy with the hopes to impact a person’s life. With such idealistic notions, she has accumulated 8 years of experience in the field. These experience taught her that being diligent and consistent with rehabilitation may lead to positive outcomes in locomotion and performance in sports. Though it is fulfilling to get people back on their feet and excel in their sports, the greatest satisfaction comes when their outlook of life after injury changed because of you, the therapist. Highly tuned to hearing the concerns of her clients, she is able to provide targeted treatment and advice for her patients at various stage of injuries while undergoing rehabilitation with her. Being a source of comfort and confidant for her clients, it elevated her job gratification as well her clients’ satisfaction with her services. Looking at pushing her limits, she decided to use her hands in the animal world. Under the guidance and enlightenment of Karen and Chris, Ezora hopes to gain more insights into rehabilitating animals and bring the furry creatures the good outcomes and comfort at various stages of their life.
Andrew Mark Sobrielo
Animal Rehabilitation Assistant
Hydrotherapist
For Andrew, working with animals has been a life long passion. And when he is not at his day job, or busy with his four rescues, Bailey, Coco, Angus and Cookie (all Singapore Specials) he spends his weekends here at Gaia as one of our Animal Therapist Assistants.
Andrew has a strong interest in animal care and is perpetually ready to acquire new knowledge to better enhance his skills. He had volunteered both in Singapore Zoo and Acres in the past and has experience in handling our wildlife as well. Always calm and collected, he often has little trouble building rapport with animals and is not afraid to help with anything they may need. Though he may be a man of few words, Andrew is always dependable, patient and gentle with any animal in his care, and prioritises the animal’s well-being above all else.
Janice Chen
Animal Rehabilitation Assistant
My first experience with animals was my pet rabbit who unfortunately passed on at an early age when I was a kid. In 2011, I volunteered at RDA Singapore for six months where we were taught the basics of horse behavior and horse handling. In 2016, I came across an elderly comm cat in my neighborhood who asked for food. I gave her some, and that was the start of my life as a cat slave. In that year, I crossed paths with another comm cat and formed an instant connection with her. She became an official member of the family four years on, and now she’s free from all illnesses that weighed her down. We’ve also taken in cats who could no longer stay outdoors. One of them turned out to be FeLV+ and we tried our best to make her final month with us as comfortable as possible. Another boy has hind leg paralysis and suffers from epilepsy. I chanced upon Gaia while researching on alternative treatments for him such as physiotherapy, and that’s how I started on this animal rehab journey with Karen and Chris.
I’ve also had two hamsters who have joined my two cats in the pain-free realm. Having small pets made me realise the fact that readily accessible information does not necessarily equate to widespread knowledge when I noticed how misinformation is still prevalent both within and outside of the hamster community. Now, I make it a point to stick my nose into people’s business and give unsolicited advice to new pawrents when I overhear pet shop staff making unsuitable recommendations for hammies.
Every day’s a learning journey with my pets. I’ve learned to, and strongly believe in, making every single day with our animals count. Under the guidance of Karen and Christopher, I hope to one day be able to extend the practical knowledge and skills to not just animals that come to Gaia Wholistic Animal Wellness, but also to our strays who deserve just as much love and care.
