Michelle Dally, DVM, JD
HSVMA FLORIDA STATE CO-REPRESENTATIVE

Dr. Dally is a mixed-animal veterinarian who ran her own mobile practice for 6.5 years in rural western CO while providing veterinary services for the local shelter which served three counties. She is accredited as a veterinary medical acupuncturist and fear free handler. She moved to Florida in 2020 and started a Brevard County chapter of The Street Dog Coalition. Later that year she was asked to serve on the board of SDC. She currently works as a relief vet in between her volunteer work with the Street Dog Coalition. 

Before entering vet school at 44, she was a lawyer, and served as a Senate legislative aide and later, a political journalist. She shared in a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for coverage of the Columbine Massacre and published a novel titled “A Highly Placed Source” in 2006. She and her husband raised 4 boys in a blended family in a fairly messy house full of adopted and foster dogs.

Sy Woon, BVSc
HSVMA FLORIDA STATE CO-REPRESENTATIVE

Dr. Sy Woon originates from Australia where she grew up in Canberra and graduated from the University of Sydney’s veterinary school. Since moving to the United States in 2015, she has worked extensively in private practice as well as at non-profit hospitals and rescues. During this time, she was appointed Medical Director at both Justin Bartlett Animal Hospital and Good Karma Pet Rescue of South Florida. She also worked with Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice, providing in-home euthanasia and hospice care, and is currently undertaking her Veterinary Acupuncture certification with Chi University. Most recently, she moved to Los Angeles to launch the LA branch of a mobile vet company, The Vets. For the past seven years, she has been the HSVMA Florida State Co-Representative which has involved advocating for and lobbying on animal welfare issues such as puppy mills and declawing, as well as supporting legislative reforms such the successful ban on greyhound racing in Florida.

During vet school, Dr. Woon served as President of the University of Sydney Animal Welfare Society for three years and was heavily involved in campaigning on various animal rights/welfare issues within her university, the local community and nationwide. She founded the Sydney University Vets Beyond Borders Student Chapter and was selected as a representative on her university’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. Dr. Woon worked as Project Officer and Volunteer Coordinator for Medical Advances Without Animals (MAWA) Trust for several years, and was involved with Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics as Student Coordinator, and then Committee Member. She wrote a project proposal for Sentient that was awarded a grant from Voiceless The Animal Protection Institute to fund the development of an annual essay contest for veterinary students encouraging critical research into animals exploited in agriculture, entertainment and laboratories.

Dr. Woon has spoken at multiple stateside and international conferences on animal welfare and ethics and aspires to work with children, fostering their innate compassion for animals. Dr. Woon was awarded a Davis Projects for Peace grant to carry out a rabies prevention and education campaign in India that she independently designed; she presented her research on humane veterinary education as an invited speaker at the 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Montreal; and her op-eds on social issues and her animal ethics research have been published in newspapers and journals, including the Sun Sentinel and ALTEX.

Inspired by her passion for pet education and animal advocacy, Dr. Woon created PetParentsPro™️(www.petparentspro.com)--a free educational video platform designed for pet parents worldwide, with the purpose of improving pets’ quality of life by educating about humane behavior training, emergency prevention, and welfare-friendly at-home pet care tips. Dr. Woon has been invited as a veterinarian guest to radio shows, including NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’, Talking Animals on WNMF (88.5 FM), and podcasts such as ‘Humane Voices.’ She has also been interviewed for media reports such as ABC’s WPBF 25 News, Fox News, WESH2 News as well as being featured as a veterinary expert on news stations including NBC and CBS News.

To contact an HSVMA State Representative, please email [email protected].