INTERVIEW: Turtles and rabbits and birds … oh my! Just another day for Dr. K.
Photo: Dr. Susan Kelleher owns the Broward Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital. It has been a dream come true: a quiet atmosphere where Kelleher can focus all her attention on the special needs of unique pets. Photo courtesy of National Geographic Channels/Stewart Volland / Provided with permission.
Dr. Susan Kelleher has her hands filled most days of the week. The veterinarian operates one of the busiest clinics for exotic pets in the country, and she is constantly going in and out of surgery to help the many critters that come her way.
Her adventures in the emergency room are the subject of the successful reality series Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER, which has new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo WILD. Audience members will have the chance to see Kelleher in her professional environment in South Florida at the Broward Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital. In that location, the good doctor saves lives and helps human companions deal with the difficulties of pet ownership.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox spoke with Kelleher right before she was prepping for surgery. Here’s what she had to say:
On her decision to film another season of Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER …
“I sign up. I don’t mind doing it. It can be hectic when they’re filming. You have three camera guys around you all the time, lots of extra people in the building and stuff, but I get the opportunity to get the word out about the level of care these patients need. And that means a lot to me.”
On the variety that can be found in any given day …
“Every day is very, very, very different. That’s the best part of the job that I have. I’ve been doing this for 23 years, and I still love coming to work everyday because you never know whether you’re going to walk in the door and you have a turtle waiting that’s been having trouble breathing all night, or a bird that’s sick. Anything, anything goes.”
On growing up with exotic pets …
“When I was a kid, I grew up in the suburbs of Buffalo, but we were that house on the corner that had all weird pets. We had a pet chicken, a pet duck. I had rabbits. I absolutely knew from a very young age that that’s what I wanted to do.”
On her decision to relocate to Florida …
“We have a very, very high concentration of people with exotic pets here. That’s one of the reasons I came to Florida. Like I said, I grew up in Buffalo, so one aspect of coming to Florida was I wanted to be warm. I knew that from a very early age, and I wanted to go to an area of the country that had a high population of avian and exotic pets. So for me out of vet school, it was either going to be California or Florida, and it just worked out for me to be able to come to Florida.”
On the qualities she looks for in her colleagues …
“They have to be passionate. It can’t be just, oh, I’m kind of interested in this. Oh, isn’t that cool. They have to absolutely be fanatically passionate, not only about the different species but also about the human-animal bond. That’s very critical for me. These clients are my family as well. I’ve had some of these clients coming to me literally since I graduated vet school, and they’ve followed me from location to location. I’ve seen their kids grow up. I’ve seen their kids have kids, and I’ve seen them through several lifespans of pets. And it’s very, very, very important to me that whatever doctor joins my team, or whatever technician, or receptionist, that they not only love animals, but they also love people. That is critical. A lot of people say I want to be a veterinarian because I don’t like people. Well, the animals don’t drive themselves to the office, so that’s very, very important is that they love people as well.”
On the controversy of owning exotic pets and whether some of these animals should not be in the pet trade …
“I would say [I] basically had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting with myself a very long time ago because I went through a period of time quite a few years ago, probably 15 years ago, where I was like, what am I doing? Why am I seeing these animals? They shouldn’t even be in the pet trade. But when I really sit down and think about it — they need medical care. They need an advocate. They need somebody to educate the owners about how to keep them healthy. I didn’t put them in the pet trade. I didn’t put them in the pet store and put them in this situation, but I’m to make sure that their domestic situation is the absolute best possible for their health, comfort and overall well-being.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Dr. K’s Exotic Animal ER continues with new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo WILD. Click here for more information.
