Days of 'Doc,' the country vet, are long gone

John Oncken
Special to the Capital Times  —  1/17/2008 9:30 am

Older livestock farmers remember the days when most rural towns had a veterinarian.

The veterinarian, often called "Doc,'' raced from farm to farm following a long list of phone calls that had accumulated early in the morning: A cow was down at the Smith dairy; a sow over at Wilson's was trying to give birth to a litter and wasn't doing well; there was a group of heifers to dehorn at the Olson place; some hoof trimming was needed at Dahl's dairy; a dog had to be looked at -- Doc had given it a shot a couple of days ago -- at Mrs. Rickerts; and if he had time, there was a stop at the Wilmets, who had a pet peacock that was droopy.

Of course, that was just the early schedule. If and when Doc got back to the office for a quick lunch probably at 3 p.m. or so, there would be a new list of cows, pigs, sheep, and maybe a dog or two that needed attention.

Old Doc seemed to live in a fog from lack of sleep, often walked with a limp and complained about an assortment of bruises from being kicked, bitten and otherwise knocked around during his farm visits.

Times have changed in rural America.

Alan Miller, D.V.M., graduated from Michigan State Veterinary School in 1983 with a goal of working with cattle. He met Dr. Lee Allenstein, then with the Whitewater Vet Clinic, who told him of an opening at the Waterloo Veterinary Clinic.

Miller drove from his home in Upper Michigan, spent a couple of days with Dr. Robert Weiner in a long interview and began working at the Waterloo clinic in early 1984.

"We treated cows from early morning to late afternoon," Miller says. "We got to the dogs and cats late in the day.

"We pretty much ran a 'firehouse' operation. We were basically treating sick animals."

After two years, Miller became a partner in the business. In 1990, Dr. Barbara Smith joined the clinic as a companion animal veterinarian and became a partner in 1997.

Over the years more veterinarians -- both food animal and companion animal specialists, were added to the staff. Miller saw dairying change. Dairy herds got bigger and the numbers shrunk yearly.

"We moved from just treating sick animals to preventing illness," he says. "The farmers themselves began doing some of the emergency treatments and we moved to working close with dairy producers in herd health programs.''

Miller is happy to see professional hoof trimmers take over a job that formerly fell to the veterinarian. The same goes for the dehorning process; a veterinarian used to perform the task, now the dairy producer does it using better technology on young calves.

Another major change in the animal health care profession is the number of women in the farm veterinary practices. Miller employs three young women in his food animal practice.

"Nowadays 80-90 percent of the students in veterinary schools are women," he says. "Many of them seek employment in the food animal field."

Dr. Jennifer Brase-Happe was raised in Manchester, N.J. Her mother was a registered nurse, her dad a chief of police and the only time she ever saw cows was in a Hereford herd in the area.

She attended Delaware Valley College (a small agriculture-based school in Pennsylvania), planning to be a small animal veterinarian and was accepted at Iowa State University Veterinary School.

Halfway through her first year, she began working with the university dairy research herd and the farm manager, Joe Detrick.

"He was a great mentor," Brase-Happe says. "I changed my mind to become a food animal veterinarian and joined Waterloo Veterinary Clinic in July 2006."

Kristi Orchard was raised at Gurn-Z Meadow farm in Eagle, Wis., owned by her parents William and Kathy.

After getting a dairy science degree at UW-Madison and attending the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, Orchard went on to gain a master's degree in public health. She started working part time at the Waterloo Veterinary Clinic in January 2006 while in her master's program and joined the clinic full-time in September 2006 as a food animal veterinarian.

Rebecca Mentink is from Waldo, in Sheboygan County, where her parents Joel and Brenda milk 65 cows at Jo-Bre Registered Holsteins.

"I grew up around cows,'' Mentink says. "I always wanted to work with cows, got a dairy science degree at the UW-Madison and felt that I could be a teacher and help animals. So I went to the UW School of Veterinary Medicine."

After graduation last June, Mentink immediately joined the staff at Waterloo Veterinary Clinic.

In addition to the four food animal veterinarians at the clinic, there are two companion animal veterinarians and a 10-member support staff.

The strong relationship between veterinarians and farmers they serve is long standing.

"We're almost like members of the family," Miller says.

"Because of my long distance from home (New Jersey), I'm often invited to their family affairs," Brase-Happe says.

"It's great to see a young farm family building a dairy herd," Mentink says. "They seek our help."

One of the hazards of being a large animal veterinarian is getting kicked, pushed or stepped on by animals weighing nearly half a ton.

"I got a broken nose," Brase-Happe says. "A cow accidentally jammed a speculum I was holding into my face."

Mentink and Orchard admit that they, too, have suffered minor bumps but nothing serious.

They also agree that working with Miller is a joy.

"He treats us as professionals, " Mentink says.

"We're lucky to work here," Orchard adds.

The four vets say that convincing a farmer of new animal care systems is a challenge but those who take the best care of their animals are the most eager to make changes.

How does Orchard use her degree in public health at a vet clinic? All the veterinarians point out the close involvement and relationship with animal and human diseases -- citing the worldwide outbreaks of foot and mouth and BSE as examples.

Old "Doc" has long ago retired from the rural scene, but animal care is still number one in most dairy farmers' minds. There are concerns that food animal veterinarians will be in short supply in coming years -- currently 30 percent of the graduating class at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine has expressed interest in food animal-large animal practice.

There are still very active food animal veterinary clinics in Wisconsin -- Waterloo, Waunakee, Sun Prairie are among those in Dane County. "But we're almost like the 'last man standing,'" Miller says.

At the moment, the three young veterinarians and Miller are serving farmers in the Waterloo area very well.

"But it's not like it was 24 years ago when I started," Miller says. "Thankfully so!"

John Oncken is owner of Oncken Communications, a Madison-based agricultural information and consulting company. He can be reached at 222-0624 or e-mail jfodairy@chorus.net

John Oncken
Special to the Capital Times  —  1/17/2008 9:30 am