INTERVIEW: With more than 20,000 patients, Dr. Pol is ready to get his hands dirty

On his Nat Geo Wild show, Dr. Jan Pol often meets both humans and animals with a smile. He’s the lovable veterinarian from Michigan who has no problem getting his hands dirty with his patients. From dogs to cats to livestock, he’s a man at the top of the animal kingdom.

The reality series, which airs Saturdays at 9 p.m., began thanks to Pol’s son Charles.

“[Charles] actually has been infatuated with movies ever since he was born,” Pol said recently during a phone interview. “And he wanted to get into making movies, be a producer, and in L.A., as you know, it’s not who you know and what you know, it’s just hard to get into the business. So three years ago he comes to me, and he says, ‘Dad, we should make a reality show about you.’ And I said, ‘Who wants to watch this old guy just working?’ And he said, ‘You’d be surprised.’ Well, I think everybody is.”

In the beginning, having the cameras around was a bit of a nuisance. However, after multiple TV seasons and getting to know the camera operators, he’s used to the scrutiny. “They are here, but the cameraman and the sound man, they know they only have one chance, and there are no retakes,” he said. “And I think everybody has learned how to do it, and that’s why I think the show is such a success.”

Some of his patients and their human companions can be a little camera shy, but Pol’s team always asks for their permission before filming. And business is good. People definitely recognize the veterinarian from the Nat Geo Wild show, which has made him a reality-TV star. That celebrity status is a long way from the Netherlands.

“I was born and raised in the Netherlands on a dairy farm, but I was the youngest of six children. And the Netherlands is very crowded as everybody knows, and my oldest brother got on the farm, but nobody else did. And I still wanted to work with animals, and so when I was 12 years old, the local veterinarian, which was a large animal veterinarian, he was a big, strong, muscle-y guy, picked me up so I could help deliver piglets at my brother’s place. And, you know, at that time I really was up to my armpits in the backend of her … pulling out little ones, and … I didn’t think it was dirty at all. I thought it was fantastic to bring those little things out alive like that, and, yes, from there on I says, ‘Hey, I’d like to become a veterinarian.’ And that’s what happened.”

On that childhood farm, Pol’s family had cats, dogs, chickens, turkeys, geese and cows. Throughout the years, he’s also had a pet fox and rabbit, plus many other animals.

From the Netherlands, Pol would visit his sister in Canada for extended periods of time, and then he became an exchange student in Michigan. After considering opening a practice in Australia or New Zealand, he ended up moving back to Michigan for good. For 10 years, he was located on the coast of Lake Erie in Harbor Beach. His current practice is in Weidman, and he’s been there for 32 years.

“We try to help everybody,” he said. “My feeling is try to help anybody and everybody that we can. And [we’re] always getting new clients. … Many, many local clients are still coming. Right now a new client walking through the door will have a number like 22,500, but we still have single-digit clients from 30 years ago.”

At this point in his career, Pol still enjoys pulling a live calf from the mother’s womb or helping dogs and cats with C-sections. “They come out alive,” he said. “It is pure enjoyment.”

The roughest and saddest part of the job is when a pet needs to be euthanized. “What you never get used to is when you have to end the life of animal that has been a pet for some people for a long time. You know euthanasia, I have actually developed my own way of doing it because, yes, there is a euthanasia solution, but when you put it in the vein, the animal responds strangely. So what I do first, I give him complete anesthetic just like for surgeries with a combination of tranquilizers, and then they get the final solution. And that has helped me do the worst part of the job, you know, putting animals down. … Even after 40 years, I don’t think you get used to it really.”

He grew up on a farm and has spent his entire professional life tending to animals. Does he still own pets? Well, it’s a motley crew that includes two Danes, a Newfoundland, cats, horses, chickens and peacocks.

As he grows older and his fame from the Nat Geo Wild show expands, Pol has considered retirement. Right now, he says his family, clients and the TV channel won’t let him enjoy some much-needed relaxation. But then again, his day-to-day job is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

“I’m an optimist I guess, and I like to make people smile,” he said. “And I have a lot of fun in life myself, so yes that comes through in the show. The funny thing was we had a lady that came … and she said she was almost afraid to come and meet us because she was not sure whether I was the same person off the show as on the show. So, you know, she had a little bit of anxiety to come here, but when she came here and met us, we got a very nice thank-you letter back saying, ‘Hey, this is you, and now I love the show even more because, yes, it’s you and you’re funny.’”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

The Incredible Dr. Pol airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. on Nat Geo Wild.

Revised