Garry Putland | Co-Founder
Sophie’s Legacy

Garry Putland co-founded Sophie's Legacy in memory, Dr Sophie Putland, a veterinarian who died by suicide in 2021. Over the past five years, he has built Sophie's Legacy from a family's response to profound loss into a recognised voice for change within the Australian veterinary profession. Garry has led Sophie's Legacy's public awareness campaigns, including We're Only Human and the more recent Cats Have Nine Lives, Your Vet Has Only One — which reached over one million Australians in its first 24 hours, with feedback indicating lives saved and growing empathy toward vet staff, and international interest now driving requests to repeat the campaigns abroad. He has driven formal advocacy at state and national levels, including submissions to the NSW Vet Workforce Shortage inquiry, and was instrumental in establishing the SA Parliamentary Inquiry into the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Veterinarians — now before government. Alongside this, Garry has built a growing network of strategic and industry partners across Australia, and speaks directly to early-career veterinarians on agency, honest communication, and fair working conditions.