Brothers Work Long Hours To Open Vet Clinic JAYNE SEBRIGHT and the quota system exists in Germany,” said Dan. “All of ag- DOVER (York Co.) Doc- riculture is more regulated in tors Dan and Dave Pike know Europe than over here.” what it takes to built a successful The Pikes moved with their veterinarian clinic. It takes 24- family to the Dover area in 1986. hour days and an excellent part- Dan started college at Penn ner ‘ “*, at s why they made a State York, and Dave started at pact before either one attended William Penn High School, vet school that they would be After two years at Penn State partners in veterinarian medi- York, Dan transferred to the Clr l?‘. ... University of Kiel in Northern a ear a half after Germany. He finished up the * 6 * CS - °P ene d the Dover last year of his undergraduate Area Animal Hospital, they work and all four years of vet have grown from a handful of school at the University of Ten large animal and no small nesse. animal clients to more than Dave followed in Dan’s 3,000 small animal customers, footsteps by studying at Penn 70 to 75 dairy herds, some beef State York for three years and herds, and a few sheep and goat then getting an early transfer to customers. the University of Tennesse’s vet But the Pikes’ interest in vet- school. Dan graduated from vet erinarian medicine didn’t start school in 1995, while Dave grad anywhere close to Dover. In uated in 1997. fact, that interest originated half “We both wanted to be vets way around the world. The since we were twelve years old,” Pikes grew up in Heidelberg, said Dan. “I knew I needed a Germany, and worked on farms partner that I could depend on, ove L there ' so before I went to vet school, I “The farms where we lived in Germany are very similar to farms in the United States, al though the herds are smaller Dave often does surgeries on Sundays to work around his regular small animal appointments and to get the as sistance of Dan, who is out with farmers most hours of every day. COLLEGE PARK, Md - Environmentalists may have a surprising ally in the fight to prevent pollution in the lower Eastern shore's waterways: farmers. Results from an ongoing study conducted by a team of University of Maryland anthro pologists shows that the same farmers who routinely have been accused of being the source of water pollution, specifically the toxic algae bloom Pfiesteria, consider themselves true envi ronmentalists. It also suggests environmentalists might be bet ter served by tapping into farm ers’ expertise as a credible resource in their efforts to pro tect the area’s natural resources. Since summer 1998, Maryland anthropologist Michael Paolisso, Erve Chambers, and Shawn Maloney have been using in-depth inter views and questionnaires to understand cultural beliefs and values regarding the environ ment and pollution among farm crs and environmentalists. The researchers found that both groups share similar values toward preserving the conserv- made Dave promise that he would do it, too.” To reach their goal, the Pikes had to go through several big Farmers, Environmentalists Hold Similar Values Regarding Pollution ing the environment although they differ on the effectiveness of voluntary self-regulation among farmers as a strategy to protect the environment. “These farmers and environ mentalists talk the same talk. They are equally passionate about protecting the environ ment,” said Paolisso. “Neither one wants to see the water or the land polluted. Based on their values, they are natural allies.” The study also identified a clear “farmer environmentalist” point of view among the Delmarva peninsula’s poultry and grain farmers that is consis tent in scope with views com monly held by environmental ists. Many of the farmers, who run the area’s 5,800 broiler houses that produce 606 million birds annually, consider them selves “real environmentalists” whose livelihoods are dependent on the quality of their land and environment, thus making them very concerned about pollution. Farmers also expressed deep feeling of disenfranchisement following the Pfiesteria scare in the late ‘9os, when they were branded as polluters, putting a hurtles. The first was getting into vet school as out-of-state students. They both needed to maintain a 3.8 grade point aver age in college. The second hurtle was getting though vet school. “Eight kids dropped out of vet school while I was there,” said Dave. “There were only 52 in my graduating class.” The third and probably the biggest hurtle was opening up their own clinic together. “We didn’t have any money, our starting salaries were low, and we had high debt from school,” said Dan. “Nobody in their right mind was going to loan us the money we need.ed to start the clinic.” So they achieved their dream the old-fashioned way through hard work. When Dan graduated from vet school, he started working at the Northside Veterinarian Clinic in Cumber land County as a large animal vet. With the money he earned at Northside, he purchased a run down carpet store in Dover to renovate into the clinic. For tunately the past owner was willing to finance the property for Dan. After working all day, Dan worked on renovating the house and gutting the entire building to prepare it for the clinic. It took an entire year for him to gut the building, put a new roof on it, and get it ready for the contractors. In 1997, Dave graduated and went to work for Northside, too. After the contractors finished the walls, framing, electric, plumbing, and heating, the Pikes did all of the finishing to the building after their regular working hours. A family friend, Steve Smith, also helped reno vate the building. In January 1999, the Pikes opened their practice. But the hard work didn’t stop there. “From January to July, Dave and I both worked three jobs,” said Dan. When they opened the clinic, the Pikes started out with only three to four customers each question their integrity. Resentment and bitterness built up when outside groups began calling for tough regulations of farmers. Farm owners and oper ators for years have, used best management practices to regu late themselves in fact, Delmarva farms had one of the most successful voluntary nutri ent management programs in the nation. However, according to the study, when farmers felt they were being accused of knowingly - and unknowingly - polluting the Bay and its tribu taries, they dug their heels in and assumed an adversarial stance against environmental ists. Farmers believed they were viewed as part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. In interviews, farmers expressed beliefs that environ mentalists saw an opportunity in the “Pfiesteria hysteria” to push long-standing water quali ty issues by unfairly and unsci entifically targeting poultry and grain farmers on the lower Eastern Shore as the Pfiesteria culprits. The farmers felt alien ated and ignored, and rallied against nutrient management Putting a lot of miles on his truck, Dan travels through out the Cumberland, York, and Adams county area to wort with dairy, beef, sheep, and goat herds. day. So they continued working at the Northside Vet Clinic while they built up their cus tomer base. Dave would work at the Northside Clinic all day, while Dan would be out working with large animal clients in Cumber land and York counties. They had a receptionist at the Dover Area Animal Hospital, taking calls and scheduling appoint ments for after 5 p.m. If a customer had an emer gency, then Dan would have to fit it in between his large animal calls. In the evenings, either Dan or Dave would take care of the regular clients at Dover and handle emergency calls for both the Dover Area Clinic and Northside Clinic, while the other one would work a full shift at a local emergency hospital. “It felt like we were working 28 hours a day,” said Dave. “But we were willing to work be cause we wanted our own clinic and didn’t want to wait.” According to Dan, most veter inarians practice for 10 or more years before they can start their own business. “Not only were we opening our own clinic only one and a half years after Dave graduated, we also had to support two vet erinarian salaries,” said Dan. “That’s why we worked addi- regulations. “By not tapping into the expertise that these farmers can provide, we are losing resources to improve water quality. Our study shows that an adversarial relationship among farmers and environmentalist groups is not inevitable,” said Maloney. “Rather, these groups have much more in common than it would appear on the surface. The health of the water and land on the lower Eastern Shore Lancaster Farming ✓Check Out Our Web site www.lancasterfarming.com Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22, 2000-A43 tionaljobs.” Currently the Pikes are devot ing all of their time to Dover Area Animal Hospital but still work long hours. Typically Dave will see 35 to 40 regular small animal clients and does four to five surgeries every day for six days out of the week. Dan aver ages eight to twelve calls wit'j large animal customers evei day seven days out of the week. “Right now we’re still ver, busy, but we’re more content,” said Dan. “We’re hoping to hire another veterinarian soon to help us out.” Both Dan and Dave are on call 24 hours a day. This is one of the benefits of having both a small and large animal practice. “Most small animal vets work only normal office hours,” said Dave. “I typically see between 10 and 12 new clients each week on an emergency basis because we’re on call 24 hours a day.” “We’re expanding to 8,000 square feet in the next year,” said Dan. “We’re putting in a dog and cat grooming facility and will have more space for the hospital and office area.” “It has always been a team effort,” said Dave. “We do have our disagreements every now and then, but you couldn’t have a better partner than your own brother.” depends on highlighting these similarities in points of view, respecting the differences in core values and beliefs, and real izing that consensus building by environmentalists and govern ment agencies among farmers can provide new insight for envi ronmental health solutions.” Ultimately, the research shows that incorporating farm ers into key decision-making processes is essential in garner ing farmer support.
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