However, after a long career spent as an Orange City Council impounding officer and saleyards manager, former Canowindra resident Dan Toohey has seen it all.

“It wasn’t uncommon for me to get hauled out of bed at 3am to catch a kangaroo that was hopping down Summer Street or pick up sheep that were grazing on people’s lawns,” he said.

“If it was a full moon I knew I was in for a busy time.”

Having been made redundant this week from his role as manager of the Central Tablelands Livestock Exchange (CTLX) at Carcoar, Mr Toohey says he is looking forward to planning the first holiday he has had in years.

“I admit I’m probably going to miss the people; you really do meet a vast array of people on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

Mr Toohey spent the majority of his career at the Orange saleyards and moved to the CTLX site 12 months ago. Despite having worked with a range of animals over the years, Mr Toohey says cattle remain his favourite.

“My father was a stock and station agent so as a young boy I was dragged around the traps,” he said.

“As I got older, like most young men, I loved the thrill of working with big, ugly, and unpredictable cattle. “I wanted to be near the wild side of things.”

Mr Toohey has seen the industry change over the years, due to the introduction of tighter Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), environmental and animal welfare regulations as well as changes to the transport industry.

“Years ago there always used to be young people hanging around the saleyards,” he said.

“They’d lob up after school (or instead of school) and often from there they’d eventually make a career in the area.

“Because of changes to the OH&S regulations that just doesn’t happen anymore.”

Despite the changes in the industry Mr Toohey believes there will always be a place for saleyards in Australia.

“Saleyards will always set the price for the industry.

“Anyone who is selling stock will use the saleyards’ price as the benchmark for their own negotiations.”