The Animal Care Center Of Ooltewah Staff

I remember my first dog, an Irish Setter whose owner was a classmate who could not keep him. It seems all my animals have been those someone had to give up. His name was Lance and he was very athletic, would run circles in a 40-acre field for literally hours, leap over 5-foot fences and could not keep weight on. He though highly intelligent had ADD and I would have to get his attention sometimes before he understood what I was trying to tell him. He loved to ride in my jeep, and I would take him with me running errands and stop to buy him an ice cream. I was great at taking commands, that is after I had his attention. He was a good companion.

I remember our horse, Mingo, who I would ride to high school. I think I was the last person in our county to do that. It was a good way to wake up in the morning. I would stake her out on a rope, and she would graze during the day.

While I was growing up, I saw my parents were involved in giving back to the community. They were very generous to individuals and organizations. From them I got the idea of, we have responsibilities and obligations to our family, the community, and the world at large. Unfortunately, my father died when I was 19 so while a student at Sewanee, the University of the South were, I was majoring in what else? Biology, the study of animals, plants and the environment. Consequently, I would take classes and labs during the day and would have to come home in the evenings and take care of feeding the cattle and horses. In Summers I was consumed with maintenance of the farm and getting ready for Winter. I still managed to graduate with departmental honors.

Becoming a veterinarian seemed to be as natural as breathing. I could combine love of animals with a job that is mentally challenging and allow me to spend my entire day with animals. At the same time, I was helping them and their owners and giving back to the community. This led me to working for two years in Burkina Faso, West Africa where I took care of the livestock of village farmers who used draft oxen and donkeys to plow and had herds of cattle, goats, sheep with the odd horse here and there. Once upon a time their calvary was renowned for being one of the most fearsome. But times change and horses are expensive to keep there as they are here, so their numbers are greatly reduced. Interestingly enough, the word for bicycle and the word for horse are there same.

At this point in my career there is almost nothing I do today that is the same as what I did when I graduated from the University of Tennessee. It is a career that demands constant education, new skills, new and better equipment and personal development. There are things that were only on the horizon and theoretical are reality today; there are new drugs, some seem almost like magic compared to what we did when I graduated; better suture material; better instruments, better understanding of animal behavior. I love the challenge of a life of continual learning as the driving force in my life is curiosity. In short I think I have the best career in the world and I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life other than spending time with these fascinating animals and the people who love them. I try every day to make their lives easier.