World Veterinary Day: The vet who is the only exotic companion mammal specialist in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Growing up, Dr Rina Maguire had always been surrounded by birds. 

Her grandmother and uncles kept singing birds, and she finally got her own cockatoo after completing her O levels. 

“My father promised I could get one if I did well for the exams,” recounts the 44-year-old, who once toyed with the idea of becoming a bird trainer after her A levels.

She says she enjoyed biology while in junior college, but never thought about her current career until she attended a veterinary science talk conducted by guidance counsellors from Scotland’s University of Glasgow. 

Her veterinary school experience at the University of Sydney in Australia was tough, but enriching. To help ease her parents’ financial burden, she worked part-time as a vet nurse at a clinic in exchange for free boarding. 

While it was tiring to juggle school in the day and work at night, Dr Maguire was able to gain hands-on experience helping out with emergency cases. She also learnt how to communicate with pet owners. 

“There is a misconception that a vet does not need to talk to people. You can’t be introverted; being a good communicator is a quality all vets need to have,” she says. “If you can’t communicate with pet owners and make them understand why you need to do certain things, you are not going to get anywhere.”

Choosing to specialise in exotics was a no-brainer for Dr Maguire, who has always been interested in birds, fowl, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, reptiles and fish – animals that are not cats and dogs. 

“Most vets can treat the popular exotics such as rabbits, as they are more similar to dogs and cats,” she says. “Birds are more challenging because many dynamics and diseases are different. The learning curve is a little bit steep.”

Together with her Australian husband Patrick Maguire, a fellow vet student whom she met in Sydney, they headed to New York upon graduation in 2006 for their specialist training – hers in exotics and his in small animal surgery. 

The couple returned to Singapore in 2015, and Dr Rina Maguire worked as a resident zoo and wildlife veterinarian at the Singapore Zoo and the then Jurong Bird Park for almost three years.  

“I realised I would lose my specialisation skills if I don’t practise them, as zoo medicine is very different,” she says. 

She subsequently started a small bird clinic, Beecroft Avian & Exotics Veterinary Clinic, in 2019. In 2021, the Maguires collaborated with other specialists and business partners and opened Beecroft Animal Specialist & Emergency Hospital, the only independent referral veterinary hospital in Singapore. 

The mother of three children aged seven, 10 and 11 has an African Grey parrot, two Orpington chickens, a hamster, two cats and a turtle at home, and finds joy in being an advocate for animals. 

“Animals have no voices, so we have to try our best to make their lives better,” she says. 

Even though she has been a vet for almost two decades, Dr Maguire admits there are days when she wants to give it all up.

She says: “Negative thoughts like ‘Why am I in a thankless profession’ or ‘I’m not good enough’ will pop up in my head probably several times a month.

“But I was very inspired by some incredible vets I met in the US. They would go on the ground and lie down with the dogs and pet them, just to build rapport.” 

She adds: “You can see the joy in their owners’ faces, knowing their pets will be well looked after. That’s my motivation – to be that kind of vet.”