When he was travelling through India in 1994, he came across a dog shelter in Rajasthan, managed by some Australians. He stayed there for a couple of days and helped walk dogs etc. He then travelled on to London, where he worked as an accountant. During this time, the Indian dog shelter wrote to him, asking if he could manage their shelter for 3 months, as their manager was leaving. Michael immediately resigned from his accounting job and started working at the shelter, doing everything from feeding 1-day old puppies, to scrubbing in and assisting with dog spays. He then realised that he was meant to be a vet and when he returned to Australia, applied and was accepted into vet school at the age of 29.