What wasyour inspiration for the 24-hour Milwaukee Emergency Centerfor Animals?
I knew from when Iwas 10 years old that I wanted to be a vet. I didn’t have a dog, but my aunthad a sheltie named Duke. After receiving my degree in 1987, I worked in Milwaukee for a time andlooked around the area and found there was no place that suited my needs. Withthe point to serve the surrounding veterinarians in the city, I also wanted tobring the best veterinary medicine along with that special care and concern forall owners and their pets, including the exotics, to Milwaukee.
Why are petsso important in today’s world?
Pets are importantbecause we are faced with a difficult worldvery fast-paced. Pets are on slowspeed and offer unconditional love. There are also couples not having children,but [taking] time for pets. And we’re living a lot longer, so they’recompanions for those well into their 70s and 80s. I find it rare that peoplehave only one pet these days; now they have two or three.
Is this petpopularity what led to the “Pet Vet” radio program?
Yes, and now we’rethinking of extending the hour-long program to take phone calls at the end ofthe show, because 15 or 20 people are left waiting and disappointed when theirquestions go unanswered. The show is sponsored by the Wisconsin VeterinaryMedical Association, and they chose two vets to be on the show. It’s an honor.It’s all questions and answers, very spontaneous and fun.
What typesof questions do you discuss on the radio program?
There are a lot ofbehavior questions, and those about exotic pets, or skin diseases in animals.The owners also ask where to go with this condition or illness they haven’tfound an answer for. And there are a lot of questions about end-of-lifedecisions. When do we let a pet go? Decisions that the doctors don’t have tomake in human medicine. My patients are comfortable talking about thesesubjects and how to give the pets dignity. I think sometimes we treat animalsmuch better than humans.
