www.Windsor.patch.com

[moosmom]

Launch date, Thursday 12/9, according to my editor. It's going to feature 2007 Veterinarian of the Year, Larry Pennington, DVM, and his cat Charlie.



I'll let you know if anything changes.

[Freedom]

Standing by . . . .

[moosmom]

Give this a shot:

http://windsor.patch.com/articles/qa-with-dr-larry-pennington-windsor-veterinarian

[Freedom]

Clicked on CT, didn't see Windsor listed . . yet.

But RI, East Providence is NEW! WOW, need to go read that in a while.

[phesina]

What exactly IS Windsor.patch.com? At first I wondered if it was something from Windsor, Ontario!

I looked under Michigan, but it didn't have Ann Arbor listed.

[moosmom]

I give up. According to the town listings, it is up and running.

[Grace]

http://windsor.patch.com/ will take you to the front page - where I found a quote by Donna about some "pulled pork" :)

[moosmom]

Here, at least, is the body of the article. I clicked on the link and got the article plus the picture of Dr. Pennington and Charlie.

Patch: You were named 2007 Veterinarian of the Year by the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). How did you feel about winning that award?

Dr. Pennington: Well, it was a very exciting time and was a total surprise. I think some of the nicest things in life are those surprises that just come out of nowhere. That was certainly the case in receiving this award. There are approximately 650 members of the CVMA and to be chosen by your peers as the Vet of the Year was truly an honor. I'm sure that I was selected based upon a lot of the things I have done in the veterinary world outside of my practice.

I've been involved in lots of humanitarian causes. I had started a veterinary science 4-H club in 1998, with about 60-70 kids each year. I work with a lot of young people and expose them to the veterinary profession, showing them the veterinary career opportunities available to them. I also led my 4-H club in a big dog walk in South Windsor, that raised lots money for rescue operations, a dog park here in Windsor, and also for service dogs. I've also been very involved in developing service dogs for people who have special needs and may be in a wheelchair.

I think the veterinary community saw all these things I was doing on the side. Here's the beauty of it all, I was being watched and didn't even know it. The rest of the veterinarians knew what was going on, and I didn't have a clue.

Patch: I was able to watch a video about "Walk for Chance," an annual fundraiser that you organize at Northwest Park in Windsor to benefit guide dogs and other dog organizations. I was impressed with how you explained what the walk was all about.

Dr. Pennington: There's a video out there on me by Steve Pocaro. It was one of the best videos I've ever done. He captured everything about my life, pictures of me when I was growing up. I talked about why I wanted to become a vet, growing up on a farm, and the whole college experience. I had a nice, simple life growing up as a kid back in the Northwestern part of Ohio. I mentioned in his interview, the thing about working with the animals on a farm, it is year round. I was always the big caretaker. My parents said they always knew I had an eye for a piglet pushed off to the side and cared for by the mother sow. I always said the day I became a veterinarian that this is what I want to be.

When I was a freshman in high school, my dad accidentally backed a tractor over a kitten. The kitten was taking its last gasp and I was trying to do CPR and breath life back into it. I spent the whole day angry at my father, blaming him. The kitten ran under the tractor and it was just an unfortunate circumstance. I was so touched at that moment by the incident and sad at the same time that I couldn't save it. Things like that change you forever and really make a lasting impression on your mind.

Patch: Is that what made you decide to become a veterinarian?

Dr. Pennington: It was a subliminal message was when I tried doing CPR on the kitten. I didn't know I wanted to be a vet yet. I was really good in science in high school and was always challenging the science teachers. By my junior year, I was deadset on being a vet. I was also the first Pennington to go to college at Ohio State University. I think Mom and Dad were pretty ecstatic about that. I was the one that was open to a challenge.

I was on a mission to become a veterinarian. As a hard worker, I was in the top 10 percent of my class. I was never the smartest kid. I always tell people it's not how smart you are, but how hard you work at it. In the wee hours of the morning, I'd be getting ready for a test, and on the weekends I was committed to studying.

Patch: Your son Parker, who is ranked 11th in U.S. men's single skating, organized a "Skate for Life" benefit ice show event in 2008 that raised $20,000 Muscular Dystrophy. Parker said on icenetwork.com that you were his inspiration. [Dr. Pennington was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a neuromuscular disease, in 2001.] Care to elaborate?


Dr. Pennington: "Parker is a chip off the old block. He's a hard worker and very driven. He is pretty much like me when I was a kid," Pennington said. 

Patch: Describe a typical day for you.

Dr. Pennington: I arrive here at 7 a.m. every morning and get ready for my clients at 8 a.m., and I see them until 6 p.m. I usually don't get out of here till 7 or 7:30 and often times work through lunch. So it's really a 12-hour day.

Patch: Indoor vs. Outdoor - what are your thoughts and why?

Dr. Pennington: Cats, definitely indoors. Bad things happen to cats who are allowed outdoors.

Patch: What was the most difficult case you've ever had?

Dr. Pennington: The most difficult case... is when a pet, for whatever reason, is brought in to be put to sleep. It's always about the loss of a life. Dealing with the emotional aspect of it is very heartbreaking for the family. I've cried with people, I laugh with people. We remember the good times of the pet.

Patch: How has veterinary medicine changed over the years?

Dr. Pennington: Veterinary medicine has never been better. The profession has evolved over the last 40 to 50 years. I got out of veterinary school in 1979. Clearly, when I was in school in the late 70's, I started to see the change where the animals were allowed indoors, on furniture. My parents never let our dog or cat in the house. Now these animals are every bit as important as a sibling, a child or a family member. I saw back then where families were starting to allow dogs and cats to walk about, as a member of the family. People now spend money on their pets to keep them happy and healthy.

Veterinary medicine has come so far with the technology. We have an arsenal of tools, equipment, diagnostic procedures and medicines to treat medical problems that weren't available years ago. We can offer our pets all the same things that hospitals offer humans, that's how far veterinary medicine has come.

Patch: Do you think the ethics of veterinary medicine has changed?

Dr. Pennington: I hope not. I'd like to think that all us veterinarians put the animals first and not let money or greed dictate the kind of doctors that we are.