Dr. Bill Hartley - Registry Founder

Dr. Bill Hartley founded the Registry in 1985. Although Bill retired in 1998, he continues to be a scientific advisor to the Registry.

After qualifying MRCVS at the Royal Veterinary College in England in 1945, Bill has had a distinguished and diverse career in the field of animal disease investigation.

Bill started working as an assistant in general practice before migrating to New Zealand in 1946 where he was in Club Practice, mainly dairy cows, for 4 to 5 years. He was then employed at the Wallaceville Animal Research Station where he developed his interest in pathology and disease investigation.

In 1961 Bill joined the Sydney University Veterinary faculty and in addition to lecturing commitments on animal disease, he carried out extensive investigations of problems in the field. He also set up a diagnostic pathology service for research staff. In 1978/79 he was a visiting pathologist at Pendik, Turkey for the United Nations Development Program. He was also a pathology consultant for the Poisonous Plant Laboratory in Logan, Utah, USA for 20 years.

In his later years at Sydney University Bill carried out diagnostic pathologic examination of animals from Taronga and Western Plains Zoos. He retired from teaching in 1981 and returned to New Zealand where he set up a Registry of Domestic Animal Diseases over a 4 year period. He then returned to Sydney where at Taronga Zoo he initiated and built up the present collection of pathologic materials relating to the diseases of native and exotic non-domestic animals. Bill’s work on the Registry continued over the following 12 years until his final retirement in 1997.

During his tenure at Taronga, Bill also set up a registry of pathology of domestic animals for the NSW Department of Agriculture.

During Bill’s lengthy career he was awarded the following: Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathology, Master of Veterinary Science (MVSc.), Doctor of Science (DSc.), Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists, Member in the Order of Australia and Peter Olafson Gold Medal from Cornell, USA – all in recognition of his expertise in the field of investigative/diagnostic comparative pathology. Bill is the author or co-author of 200 papers published in national and international journals recording results of his investigations, including about 35 associated with wild animal disease. He holds a life appointment as consultant pathologist at Taronga.