My decision to become a veterinarian was well-received by exactly no one in my family. At first it seemed their collective lack of enthusiasm stemmed from my being too young to proclaim that veterinary medicine was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My family thought that, like most young people, I’d change my mind and move on to some new idea by the time I finished elementary school and certainly by the time I’d finished high school. I often heard them say exactly that. As time went on, the pull to become a veterinarian grew stronger and with each passing year, my family’s disappointment with this decision became clearer. The recurring theme was that I should become a ‘real doctor’ or a nurse or an actuary or anything at all except a doctor for animals. [Note that ‘real doctor’ was the term used by family, I am of the opinion that vets are ‘real doctors’] I didn’t know any veterinarians who could shepherd me into the profession or who could convince my family of the merit of my choice. I…
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
In a previous post, I mentioned how the neighborhood I lived in while growing up shaped my understanding of animals and other people. One of these neighbors was the elderly Polish man who fed pigeons. He demonstrated kindness and respect for the pigeons and scolded me for frightening them with my childish play of chasing the birds. Also living down the street was a rough-looking, younger man who I knew by the name of Boo. It’s possible this was a nickname. Boo was more of a temporary dweller on our street and wasn’t around long enough for me to ask more questions about the origin of his name. While my mother never showed concern about time spent with the elderly pigeon man, there was a silent understanding that none of us kids should be hanging around with Boo. This made him even more interesting. Boo lived in a house that was boarded up, almost directly across the street from the man who cared for the pigeons. When I say ‘boarded up’ I mean exactly that. There were wood panels on the two main front windows and over the two tiny windows that led to…
"But it was impossible to not hear the animals, because I looked at them and understood, instantly, and it was like looking at a sentence and understanding the words, all of it coming at me at once."