CARLA: Don't spread this around, but some of my favourite members of the cast happen to be the four-legged variety. That's why, this month I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into the animal kingdom through the eyes of the Neighbours Animal Trainer, Christine Powell.

CARLA: So, Christine, you have been here longer than I have. How long have you worked on the show?

CHRISTINE: I started on Neighbours when it first began, but they didn't have contracts as such then, and they just had bit parts for animals, so I came and went with a few different parts for animals. After a while they got a new Production Manager in and I have been on contract here now as the sole provider of the animals for the past four and a half years.

CARLA: I may be barking up the wrong tree.

CHRISTINE: Please drop the corny animal jokes. I've heard them all.

CARLA: But, they're all I have!

CHRISTINE: Well, if you must.

CARLA: Working on the show must be a real hoot for you. How did you get the job?

CHRISTINE: Sixteen years ago, I just received a call. There aren't many people doing this sort of work. There are a few industry journals and things that you advertise in. They just looked me up, I guess. I think, if I can remember, the woman who was the Production Manager then worked with me on something else and she just rang me to see if I could bring in a cat. I think it was a cat for Mrs Mangel!

CARLA: I wanted to be an animal trainer when I first started out, but the animals seemed to just run the other way. I guess I shouldn't have chased them! How were you trained to be an animal trainer?

CHRISTINE: I always loved animals from the time that I was five years old. I was five when I brought home my first kitten. I have never looked back really. I always wanted to have a farm and I always wanted animals.

I saved up five pounds when I was about six years old and bought a German Shepherd and I watched a show on television about dog training, so I decided to go outside and be a dog trainer. I was about ten by this stage. I trained the dog to do quite a few things, surprisingly at that early age.