Veterinarian Overview
I was born in Charlotte, in the same year that Dr. Forest Long opened Long Animal Hospital. The earliest years that I can remember were living and playing in a neighborhood two blocks away from the new Long Animal Hospital. I was taught by the nuns at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church up until junior high school year, and then I spend three very productive years in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School system. High school happened for me in Medina, OH. It was during those 4 years that I committed to the pursuit of veterinary medicine as a career.Following high school, I entered the Ohio State University, and eventually earned my Doctor's degree in Veterinary Medicine, in 1974. Immediately following graduation, I entered the United States Army Veterinary Corps, and served 3 years, which concluded at Fort Greeley, Alaska. It was in Alaska that I met Karen Bond, my bride-to-be. We married and lived in a tiny trailer in Delta Junction, Alaska. I worked my own ambulatory veterinary service in the Alaskan bush, and treated any and all species, any time, any place, and any where, occasionally by dog sled. Our daughter, Kristen, let it be known that she would be making her entry into our lives in 1980, and we decided to raise our family back in my home town of Charlotte. There was no veterinary work available, except for a new emergency clinic located near Presbyterian Hospital, called the Charlotte Emergency Veterinary Clinic. It was a "temporary" job. I stayed there for 20 wonderful years, before moving to other opportunities, also in emergency and critical care medicine. The opportunity to help start an emergency service with the Killough family was one of my long time professional goals, and I am eternally grateful to now have that chance. My new goal is to practice emergency medicine here for at least another 20 years.Daughter Kristen is now Doctor Kristen Messenger, professor of veterinary anesthesiology at the North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine. Her younger brother, Kevin, who is also a N.C State graduate, is completing his Ph. D in herpetology jointly at Alabama A&M University, and the University of Nanching, in the Szechuan Province of China. Their mother and I are very proud. "I hear babies crying, I watch them grow; they'll learn much more than I'll ever know, and I think to myself, what a wonderful word" (Louis Armstrong).Karen and I have been building a house in Mint Hill for most of the last 30 years. Still not done. We share it, such as it is, with a Jack Russell Terrier, a Welsh Corgi, a 3 legged cat, and a small snake collection. When I'm not on the ER floor, I enjoy working a year-round vegetable garden, cooking, pounding on our house, cycling, following the Red Sox and the Buckeyes, working with Boy Scouts, and snake hunting with Kevin
