Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Hutcheson.
Jason, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Just like every other veterinarian I know, my story starts with a keen interest in animals. I was the kid looking for snakes and turtles in rural Jenkins county where I grew up. I fostered a nest of robins in the third grade and bottle raised orphan squirrels in the fifth. By the time I was a teenager, I had a small flock of cockatiels in addition to dogs and cats. Science was always my best subjects in school and I knew whatever I grew up to be, it would involve science and animals.
Several people suggested I become a veterinarian, but at a young age, I was deterred by the amount of school involved… and I had no interest working with cows and horses (which was my concept of what a veterinarian did… cue the James Herriot theme song…) I attended Georgia Southern University beginning in 1990 and obtained a degree in biology, cum laude. I excelled in subjects like zoology, ecology, field biology, ornithology, and entomology.
It was at the end of my sophomore year that someone asked me what I planned to do with my biology degree. Was I going to be a veterinarian? I replied that I wasn’t quite sure, but I wanted to work for a zoo or with wildlife. The reply I got from that answer was ” Well, don’t zoos need veterinarians?” That thought changed my whole direction. I wrote (yes, with paper and a stamp) every zoo veterinarian I could think of asking how I could get their job. I received written responses to some of my letters recommending that I go to vet school and get as much extra information as I could on wildlife and exotic animal species on my own and apply it to the lessons I would be taught about domestic animals in school.
Pet bird and exotic pet medicine were still just beginning to branch off from domestic animal medicine. One of the responses came from Dr. Rita McManamon, Senior Veterinarian and Senior Vice President at Zoo Atlanta for over 20 years, and I still have her words of encouragement saved to this day. So, in the second half of my undergrad years, I declared myself “pre-vet”. I have heard repeatedly that veterinary school is harder to get into than med school.
Statistically, this is probably true… there are FEWER veterinary schools in the country than med schools so there are fewer spots for students. I applied to two and was accepted by the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1994. I think they liked my essay on “why I want to be a vet when I grow up” because I wanted to return to rural Georgia and take care of pet birds and other exotic animals. From the very first year, I frequently visited the “exotics wing” of the teaching hospital and got to know the two exotic animal clinicians, Dr. Bran Ritchie and Dr. Cheryl Greenacre.
The department was new and often understaffed. Dr. Greenacre came to recognize me and allow me to pitch in and help at times which further shaped my skills with exotic animals. She even suggested I contact this new bird and exotic animal hospital in Atlanta for a summer job. So, in 1995 I began working for Dr. Mimi Shepherd at For Pet’s Sake as an assistant at one of the only all bird and exotic animal hospitals in the country. For Pet’s Sake started as a house-call practice in 1988 and opened its doors at its current location in 1990. So far, I believe FPS is the second oldest bird and exotic animal hospital in the country.
After working two summers as an assistant, I returned to FPS to do an externship as part of my senior year of vet school. Both Dr. Greenacre and Dr. Shepherd was instrumental in educating me on clinical bird and exotic animal medicine. I even got to meet Dr. McManamon one day when she stopped by FPS to buy her bird’s food!! After graduating from vet school in 1998, I practiced dog and cat medicine in Augusta, Marietta, and Gainesville. In early 2001, I was hired by Dr. Shepherd as an associate veterinarian at For Pet’s Sake, practicing only on birds and other exotic animal species.
When people ask what I mean by exotic animals I reply no dogs or cats… JUST parrots, canaries, finches, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, rats, mice, sugar gliders, ferrets, hedgehogs, skunks, prairie dogs, snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, ducks, chickens, geese, wildlife, etc…. lol!
In 2006, I purchased the practice from Dr. Shepherd. She continued to work here until her retirement last November. She did the hard work of building this practice from a house-call practice. As more people obtain non-traditional pets, I have seen this practice more than double its business in the last 10 years. I believe our dedication to preventative healthcare for birds and exotics has paid off. I have been practicing for 20 years, 17 of them just on exotic animals. I have seen the life expectancy of some of our species expand by 2-3 years and I attribute this to better education and understanding of these animals needs and the willingness of owners to seek out immediate and preventative healthcare.
The internet has made our practice become much easier to find as well as the word-of-mouth from other owners. I hold memberships in AAV, Association of Avian Veterinarians, AEMV, Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, and ARAV, Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians. We routinely host vet students for senior externships just like I did here 23 years ago. I recently hired Dr. Holly Burchfield as my associate and hope to pass this practice along to her once I retire.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I purchased For Pet’s Sake in mid-2006. We became severely affected by the great recession by mid-2008. Let’s face it, when you are about to lose your house, gerbil healthcare is not a major concern. I made some tough decisions and laid off a couple of people, shortened business hours, and started working about six days a week.
My commute was around an hour each way, so to help save my sanity, I started camping out at the office a couple of nights a week to avoid the stress of a long commute just to turn around and commute again. By camping out, I mean sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag in on of the exam rooms. The staff was unaware I was doing this as I would get up in the morning, go to the gym, and return to work all fresh and showered!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My practice is 30 years old! As far as I can determine, For Pet’s Sake is the second oldest private practice in the country dedicated one hundred percent to birds and exotic animals. It was started in 1988 by Dr. Mimi Shepherd as a house-call practice. She opened the doors at our current location in 1990. I started here in 1995 as an assistant while attending vet school. And I became a veterinarian here in 2001.
On any given surgery day, I may spay a rabbit, neuter a guinea pig, perform an adrenalectomy on a ferret, and wrap up with a foreign-body removal on a snake… all before lunch. Then the afternoon may bring us a sick and lethargic bearded dragon, a macaw with egg binding, and rat with pneumonia. I think that sets us apart from a dog and cat practice!
I am most proud of my staff. I have owned the business for 12 years and I am proud to say I have had some staff members since the beginning, some longer, and some that left and came back. I trust them, clients trust them, and they are very familiar with the types of animals we see. In lieu of driving a fancy car or building up my retirement, I chose to offer employees medical care and a 401(k). We spend more time together than we do with our own families and I am proud of the rapport the staff and I have developed.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in rural southeast Georgia, one generation off of the farm. Without internet, computers, and phones, more time was spent outside finding entertainment with friends or nature. I was the kid that would sit and stare and an ant hill for hours watching what the ants were doing.
Or watch tadpoles in a mud puddle the same way. I was the quiet kid that adults would forget was in the room and was frequently privy to gossip, lol! Growing up rural, I learned varied skills such as hunting and fishing. My grandfather gave me a shotgun for my sixth birthday. My mother wasn’t pleased.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3761 North Druid Hills Road Decatur, GA 30033
- Website: www.forpetssake.com
- Phone: 404-248-8977
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forpetssake/
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
