More Than a Zookeeper

By Abby Lipiner

33.4% of pets are made up of exotic animals such as birds, reptiles and small mammals.

Just because a veterinary school doesn't offer an exclusively exotic animal track doesn't mean you have no chance of working with these rare and unusual animals. You also don't have to be a veterinarian to work with animals. There ar

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Release date: Jul 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781641376150

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More Than a Zookeeper

More Than a Zookeeper

The People behind Exotic Animals

Abby Lipiner

New Degree Press

Copyright © 2020 Abby Lipiner

All rights reserved.

More Than a Zookeeper

The People behind Exotic Animals

ISBN

978-1-64137-900-7 Paperback

978-1-64137-617-4 Kindle Ebook

978-1-64137-615-0 Ebook

This book is dedicated to my grandmother, Joyce. Because of you, I will do big things. I’ll follow my dreams and make you proud. Thank you for everything.

Contents

Introduction

Part 1.

Background

Chapter 1.

Other People

Chapter 2.

From Domestication to Humanification

Chapter 3.

Evolution of Veterinary Medicine

Part 2.

Unique Veterinarians

Chapter 4.

Dr. Susan Kelleher

Chapter 5.

Dr. Michelle Oakley

Chapter 6.

Dr. Karen Phillips and Hope Haven

Part 3.

Animal Advocates

Chapter 7.

Sanctuaries

Chapter 8.

Dr. Jane Goodall and Gorilla Doctors

Chapter 9.

Music Transcends Language and Species

Chapter 10.

The Irwin Family: A Continuing Legacy

Part 4.

Animals as Helpers

Chapter 11.

Nontraditional Therapy and Service Animals

Chapter 12.

Animals as Protectors

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Appendix

Introduction

Macaws are beautiful creatures. Their famously vibrant feathers immediately grab your attention and their fully formed personalities will make you fall in love. These highly social and intelligent birds are often kept as pets because of their distinctive traits. Where there are pets, there are vets, and where there are exotic pets, there are exotic animal veterinarians. Dr. Susan Kelleher is one of the vets who dedicates her life to caring for the exotic animals we love. While Dr. Kelleher has treated just about every animal you could think of as a pet, one of her most fascinating cases was a baby macaw, Calypso.

Calypso was born with splayed legs. They were essentially twisted completely backward at the knees. This is an especially concerning condition for macaws as they use their legs not only to perch but also to eat. Dr. Kelleher was the only chance for survival this baby had. She studied her own pet macaw and the angle of its legs as it perched. Using the knowledge she gained from these observations, she was able to fuse Calypso’s knees into a permanent angle. Luckily, the surgery was successful, and Calypso fully recovered. His owners regularly sent Dr. Kelleher pictures and updates of the life she had given back to their baby macaw.

Like vets all around the world, Dr. Kelleher wakes up every day and knows she may save a life. That responsibility and privilege comes as a result of years and years of hard work. Getting to that point isn’t easy, and it doesn’t always follow the same cookie-cutter path. Some people, like Dr. Kelleher, have always known exactly what they wanted to be. Some of us, though, need more time and a bit of a push in the right direction to get to that point.

There is something immensely serene about realizing what you want to spend your life doing. For me, this realization came during my sophomore year of college. As a freshman, I was unsure what I wanted to pursue as a career. How can anyone expect an eighteen-year-old to know without a doubt what they want to do every day for the rest of their life? I knew I wanted to help others, but that was about it. While I tried to figure out my future career, I signed up for some random general education requirements, one of which was General Chemistry I. About a week or two into the semester, I told one of my closest friends at the time, Phillip, about my schedule and how I was enjoying my chemistry class so far, even though it was harder than I expected.

To my surprise, without missing a beat, he shot me down. He told me he didn’t know why I was taking a tough science class to begin with because I simply wasn’t smart enough. He laughed and said I would never survive the semester. I should switch to something easier and more on my level before it was too late.

His opinion once mattered greatly to me, and right away I changed my attitude toward my class, assuming he knew what was best for me. By the time the first exam rolled around, I had no motivation to study; I felt like I didn’t belong and no matter how hard I hit the books, I would fail since I should never have taken the class in the first place. I switched my grading system for the class to pass/fail so I wouldn’t have the F grade I expected on my college transcript forever. At the end of the semester, I walked away with a pass and was just happy I survived.

I spent the next few semesters taking psychology and other random classes. I did what I thought was the easier, safer option. By my sophomore year, I wanted to major in psychology and minor in administration of justice. I watched a lot of criminal justice shows and thought I’d have fun doing forensic psychology or something along those lines. I enjoyed my classes, but I didn’t love them.

Everyone around me seemed so deeply invested in their majors already and knew exactly what their plans were after college. I felt like I was drowning. My grades were great, and I had plenty of time to do all the extracurricular activities I wanted to, but I absolutely dreaded thinking about my future. I hated the prospect of essentially wasting four years taking classes and getting a major in something not right for me. Finally, I had a breakdown. I spent hours crying in my friend Audrey’s lap.

As she sat there soothing me, Audrey asked, What do you want to be doing? I didn’t have a great answer, but I did reply. I want to help people. She probed deeper. How can you help people? Without thinking, I blurted out, I want to be a vet.

It was as if the idea came barreling out of me like a freight train without brakes. It’s like that cliché saying, when you know, you know. As soon as I said it, I knew it was true. I wanted to be a veterinarian. It just made sense. Ever since I was born, I have always had pets. Dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, fish, hermit crabs, and even an octopus. Every time I went into the pet store, I came out with names picked for the corn snake I saw and begged for the turtle I made eye contact with for half an hour. Every year, I looked forward to going to the vet with my parents for my dog’s checkups. I was always an animal person.

Audrey told me she believed in me and knew I could do well in the hard science classes I was so afraid of. That was just the kick I needed, and I dove headfirst into the pursuit of my dream career.

What you decide to do with the rest of your life should excite you. You should get chills when you think about what you’re going to be doing ten years from now. You should be bursting at the seams every day wanting to tell everyone around you about your big plans. That’s exactly how I feel when I think about becoming a veterinarian. There is nothing else I would rather spend the rest of my life doing.

If you ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up, many times you’ll get the same answer. Children love the idea of being a vet. By the time these children grow up and go to college, most of these animal lovers have different plans for their future. Why is it people seem to grow out of this desire to save animals? Maybe it isn’t so much that people don’t want to become vets; maybe, like I did, they don’t think they can.

Veterinary schools are extremely competitive. With only 32 accredited veterinary medicine schools in the United states and class sizes ranging from 53 to 166 for the roughly 8,700 applicants, the odds of getting accepted into veterinary school are certainly daunting.¹ It’s often said that getting into vet school is harder than getting into medical school, but in fact, these chances are pretty similar. To put in perspective what the chances are of getting into veterinary school, the North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine admits one hundred new students each fall. From the roughly one thousand applications, eighty North Carolina residents and twenty out-of-state residents are accepted, as explained to me by Jeffrey Huckel, Director of Student Services at NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinary schools look for the best of the best, planning to create a future for even more qualified and extraordinary professional animal lovers.

The veterinary industry is booming. Each year, we are seeing a massive influx of prospective veterinarians and, ultimately, board-certified veterinarians. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides some helpful insight into the rapid growth of the industry. In 2018, there were approximately 84,500 veterinarian jobs in the US, but that number is expected to grow to 100,100 by 2028. That is a projected 18 percent increase in employment, which is impressive considering the national average among all occupations is merely 5 percent.² There is more than enough room for all the animal lovers to follow their dreams. The hardest part is getting past the first step and being accepted into vet school.

Veterinary schools are phasing out their exotics programs. There’s a whole world of veterinary medicine we’re told not to waste our time on because it isn’t lucrative enough. While every veterinary school teaches students how to care for companion animals like dogs and cats, as well as farm animals, not every school’s curriculum is designed to prepare you for a day like Dr. Kelleher’s, where you may see twenty different species in an eight-hour work day. The schools with programs specifically made for exotic pets have animal hospitals that see exotic pets so students get a chance to work directly with them in the hospital just like they are able to with the regular flow of dogs and cats. An exotic pet is considered any animal that is not a dog or a cat, and these programs train aspiring veterinarians how to treat this wide variety of animals. This side of the industry is more rewarding than most vet schools let on. The number of households with exotic animals as pets is increasing every year and so is the number of people needed to care for these animals.

Just because a veterinary school doesn’t offer an exclusively exotic animal track or program doesn’t mean you have no chance of working with exotics. In fact, it may work to your advantage to be part of the few who are unique and bold enough to identify with this aspect of the veterinary industry. By standing out in this way, mentors may flock