Spring Break
UGA vets go wild for exotic species
DALLAS DUNCAN
Issue date: 9/16/09 Section: News
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Animals such as anacondas, tigers and macaws are just a few of the species zoological veterinarians on campus have to be prepared to treat at a moment's notice.
The diversity of possible case loads is so great, in fact, that exotics veterinarian Steve Divers said he could not choose a favorite animal.
"There's so much variation, you want to be able to apply yourself," he said in an interview Monday.
Divers, an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, entered vet school when he was 18, after deciding that being a "human doctor" was not his calling.
"I love the variety of species we deal with and the quality of hospital we have," he said of the University's Small Animal Teaching Hospital. "I hate bureaucracy and losing a patient."
Christine Fiorello is also an exotics veterinarian and an associate professor in the small animal medicine department. She said she chose her profession because of her interest in research and wildlife conservation, but still wanted to get some clinical experience.
Fiorello went to Tufts University for veterinary school. She finished her residency at University of Florida, after which she worked at Disney's Animal Kingdom for a year - where she was able to work with what became one of her favorite species.
"I have a lot of favorites," she said in an interview Monday. "Otters are definitely my favorite to watch; medically to work with, I like rhinos - especially white rhinos."
She said the white rhinos are easily trainable and have their own personality quirks.
One of the differences between working with animals on exhibit and working with pets, Fiorello said, is scheduling a procedure.
"It can be hard in a public aquarium or zoo situation," she said. "You have to deal with how the treatment of the animal affects the exhibit."
She said procedures usually were done outside of regular business hours, and it was sometimes a challenge to get specialist attention to animals in need, as transporting a patient could be difficult - something that outside veterinarians had trouble understanding.
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