Dr. Joe Smith thought his hometown in Butler County, Pa., was rural. Then he moved to Bushnell in Monroe Township.
Although a little more remote than what he’s accustomed to, the atmosphere in southern Ashtabula County suits Smith just fine, for it gives him the opportunity to practice veterinary medicine for both large and small animals.
Smith, 26, joined the Western Reserve Animal Clinic of Pierpont and Albion, Pa., in June. The practice also includes Drs. David Boyer, Paul Mechling and Margaret Mamula. Smith became aware of the opportunity through Nate Boyer, David’s son, who was also a veterinary medicine student and one of Smith’s best friends at Ohio State University.
Smith said he was attracted to the clinic’s rural practice because of the diversity it offers. He also likes the technology that’s available at the practice and the overall culture.
He is usually at the Pierpont office on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and Albion on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Smith said his mother’s work as a nurse attracted him to the medical field and his interest and experiences with animals pulled him toward veterinary medicine. He majored in animal bioscience and minored in animal science at Penn State University. Smith received his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine in June.
While studying at OSU, Smith went to Goiania, Brazil, on a summer internship at the city zoo. He also observed operations at the Brazilian national identification program and foot-and-mouth disease surveillance programs at a grass-based beef-feeding operation. He supervised and trained hoof trimming techniques at an exotic hoof-stock breeding operation.
He’s worked as an extern at Ohio’s prison farm system and the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and was a student necropsy aide and member of the OSU Food Animal emergency team.
While at Penn State, Smith worked at the Living Treasures Animal Park as a animal keeper responsible for the health of a collection that included camels, tigers, primates and birds. On another summer break, he worked at the Penn State Dairy. And he did a rotation at the Cleveland Metro Zoo, with a focus on elephant foot care.
While he’s not likely to be called upon to care for an elephant in Pierpont, Smith says he has already seen rats, rabbits, ferrets, cockatiels and some geckos.
He recently outfitted his truck for farm calls, and Smith said the practice plans to slowly transition into the large-animal, on-farm service. As such, he will fill a huge need in the county; most livestock and dairy operations rely upon veterinarians from outside the county to care for their herds.
Smith also has an interest in disaster preparedness and is enrolled in a master’s program in homeland security in public health preparedness at the College of Medicine, Penn State University. He hopes to apply his interest in animals to that area of work, as well.
“A lot of disaster planning is done from the human side, but the animal side only comes up when you have something like Katrina.”
During his free time, Smith enjoys wrestling as both a spectator and competitor, and he hopes to secure a coaching position with Conneaut Area City Schools. He also enjoys fishing, kayaking and cheering for the Steelers and Penn State.
Smith chose Bushnell as his hometown because it is exactly between the two offices. He lives with his dog, Rose, a German shepherd/husky mix he’s had to rename to “Rose Dog” since there’s a human Rose who works at the office.
With all the exotic animals Smith has worked around, it’s reasonable to assume he has a war story or two, and he does.
“I was bottle feeding a baby bear at Living Treasures and it bit me. I can say I was bit by a bear, but (the scar) is only a quarter of an inch long,” Smith said pointing to the very faint mark on his hand.
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