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Dr. Gale is a wonderful veterinarian and I am glad that he is mine. Incidentally, he is holding my cat, "Maxwell." Thanks for all you do for the Animals in Harrisburg!
Dr. Richard Gayle's one-man veterinary practice has been a fixture on Walton Way for 36 years.
Once dubbed "the dog doctor" once by a friend, Gayle is the owner of Walton Way Animal Clinic. He sees mainly cats and dogs -- "non-exotic" pets -- treating ailments ranging from broken bones to tumors and completing routine checkups.
"I know one-man practices are kind of dinosaurs, but at least when someone brings their animal in they see me," Gayle said.
His personal touch has attracted many loyal patrons through the years. The animals and their owners often become like family, he said.
"As a professional, he is loved by the owners of his 'patients,' and I have often heard about women commenting that they wish Dick could treat their children," said Trav Paine, an Augusta lawyer who has been friends with Gayle since their days as Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers at the University of Georgia in the 1960s. "I guess that's the supreme compliment for a dog doctor."
Even online, anonymous reviews of the practice are uniformly glowing.
"We went today for the first time with a puppy we rescued. This place was great," one commenter wrote. "There was no wait, both the vet and everyone else in the office was super polite and capable."
His wife, Melissa, said that is a reflection of Gayle's true dedication to the profession.
"He's real caring. He wants to see animals get well," she said. "That's a big thing with him."
Affinity for animals
Gayle was born in Lexington, Ky., but his family moved to Perry, Ga., when he was 6 years old.
The youngest of four children, his father managed a 6,000-acre farm that raised beef cattle and catered to clients who would also fish and hunt quail and dove on the property.
Growing up in the small town about 30 miles south of Macon, taught him the importance of hard work, Gayle said.
"Our parents made us work. You had to work if you wanted any spending money," Gayle said, adding that he and his siblings could complete chores like picking pecans.
His interest in animal medicine took root when he was in middle school participating in 4-H Club and occasionally helping out a local veterinarian with cleaning cages and other small tasks.
"There was a veterinarian in Perry who would come out to (the farm) and do various type treatments," he said. "I liked him and would follow around with him."
As part of 4-H Club, students would be charged with raising an animal for competition and then selling it off afterward. Gayle said he remembers raising a steer for several months each year.
"You would have the show and after the show they would go to sale and then be on someone's dinner table," Gayle said.
Although the prospect of slaughter could be somewhat traumatizing for students, each year brought a new animal to nurture, he said.
By the time Gayle entered the University of Georgia's College of Agriculture, he already was set on enrolling in the school's pre-veterinarian curriculum, a determination that helped see him through years of chemistry, histology and anatomy.
After three years of undergraduate work, Gayle began his courses at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. His graduating class of 58 students was again drilled in the basics of a medical education, he said.
"By the end of (second) year I was a little despondent because I hadn't seen a live animal," Gayle said. "You had a great basic science education. I would talk to my friends who were in medical school and dental school and they would say, 'You're taking that?' "
When he originally entered vet school, Gayle said he thought he would go into a large-animal practice. But he discovered by his second year that he was drawn more to treating small animals.
"I was planning on doing just large animals. I didn't dream I would do small animals," Gayle said. "We had dogs and cats, but I didn't know I would enjoy the veterinary medicine side of small animals. I enjoy dogs and cats."
Bulldog ties
Gayle also formed some of his most lasting relationships at the University of Georgia -- and ones that helped lead him to Augusta. He met his wife, Melissa, at the school's freshman camp, a program for 75 women and 75 men in the incoming freshman class that helped them get acquainted with campus.
They started dating in 1966 and were married by 1970. Melissa said she first noticed her to-be husband's "great smile."
"I think he's just very down to Earth," she said.
Melissa studied English, obtaining a master's degree and beginning doctoral work, while Gayle completed vet school.
"I tell people she got a real education," Gayle said. "I got the science education -- where a lot of that is obsolete in five years -- where a person of letters, that never goes away."
After graduation in 1972, the couple moved to Miami, where Gayle worked at a large, multiple-vet practice that specialized in small animals. Two years later he got a call from a college friend who proposed the idea of opening up their own vet practice in Augusta.
"It was the best blind luck decision that I made," Gayle said.
They opened a practice together in Evans, but about three months later Gayle decided to start his own office on Walton Way, purchasing an existing practice from the estate of a deceased veterinarian.
That building, which Gayle jokingly refers to as "Dalmatian Land" because of its current black-and-white spotted exterior, is now home to grooming and boarding service Katz and Dogues but housed Walton Way Animal Clinic for about 15 years.
That was when Gayle decided to invest in a new business venture with another long-time friend, Paine, an Augusta native and his fraternity brother from college.
They bought some old houses on the property next to Gayle's vet practice and built Academy Plaza, a center that now houses commercial properties such as Walton Way Deli, Olde Time Burgers and Brickle's Cleaners.
Walton Way Animal Clinic moved to a new facility, situated at the end of the strip and has been there ever since.
The partners rented out space for years but decided about seven years ago to sell the plaza except for the vet practice.
"It was just time to move on. We wanted to do something different," Gayle said. "Sometimes (being a landlord is) not all it's cracked up to be."
The friends still own some riverfront property in McCormick County and enjoy traveling together.
"He's a great business partner. He's always willing to do his share and he pays attention," Paine said. "He doesn't ever back away from making sure he does his share of being a good partner."
Hitting the road
Gayle and Paine have traveled across the world together, exploring Cuba twice, the Danube River region of Europe from Vienna to Budapest, the vineyards and beaches of Chile and the north and south shores of Ireland. Most recently, they traveled in February to the Panama Canal and to Cartagena, Colombia.
The trips usually combine another passion: cycling.
Paine said the memories made together traveling are precious and that Gayle is a good companion.
"He's not a fussy sort," Paine said. "When you travel you have to make a lot of adjustments and can't expect everything to go perfect. He and I both have the right attitude of hope for the best and expect the worst."
Neither speaks a foreign language, but that doesn't stop the pair from visiting areas less frequented by tourists, Paine said. He said they like to have fun and "take chances" but have never been seriously hurt or arrested on a trip.
"Good adventures take a lot of time in planning, but I usually don't have to ask Dick but one time if he is interested in going someplace new," Paine said.
They typically keep quiet where they are headed next.
"We usually don't talk about our trips until long after we're back. It's just easier to do what you want to do," Paine said.
Gayle said his favorite trip was in September 1999 when he traveled with his two brothers and father to mark the 55th anniversary of the battle of Peleliu in the Pacific Ocean. His father, Joe Gayle, had been a Marine officer who was shot in the neck at Peleliu and survived.
"He said very little to us about World War II. It was an unbelievable experience that week, trekking the sites on that island," Gayle said. "It was an honor to be one of his sons."
Keeping it simple
Being a vet can have a way of burning people out, Gayle said, adding that he has young vets who approach him and ask him how he balances everything and still maintains enthusiasm for his job.
"My advice is, bottom line, it's a neat vocation, enjoy it," Gayle said. "But also I made the decision many years ago that I was not going to work 90 hours a week."
His experience at a larger animal clinic in Miami taught him that he wanted to keep it simple, Gayle said.
"I purposely kept it small," he said. "I had been in a busy, multiman practice, but that wasn't my cup of tea."
He has had associates off and on through the years, including his original partner in Augusta, but it has mostly been Gayle taking care of the animals.
About 15 years ago, Gayle was one of 18 local vets who helped organize an emergency animal clinic to help animals who had health problems after normal practice hours. He said that helped ease his schedule some because the vets rotated doing after-hours shifts.
"That was probably a neat milestone with some colleagues," Gayle said. "We since sold it. It never did make any money, but it was a good service."
Operating a small practice also means that Gayle becomes better acquainted with pets and their owners, he said. On average, he sees about 20 animals a day.
"A lot of my clients are friends, and I am still never comfortable about putting (a pet) down, even if we know it's the most humane thing to do," Gayle said. "To a person who really does love their pet, it's a very emotional decision."
Owning a small practice also means Gayle can spend more time with his friends and family.
His wife had a stroke 13 years ago that affected movement on her left side, though she has recovered enough to drive a car and complete most daily tasks on her own.
Gayle's friend, Paine, said it was touching to watch Gayle care for his wife.
"He was a very devoted caregiver," Paine said. "People don't realize how that takes a lot out of you."
His wife's stroke, coupled with the death of two close friends from cancer, helped emphasize the importance of spending time with friends and family.
"Life is precious, and it's fragile, too," he said.
The practice affords Gayle the opportunity to take time off for a trip to the beach with family or other vacations. He has colleagues in the area who fill in to help his patients when he is out of town.
"That is a camaraderie I think we fostered when we built the emergency clinic," Gayle said.
Advancing technology
Through the years, vets and practices have become increasingly specialized, Gayle said. For example, one practice might specialize in orthopedic procedures and another might work on an animal's cataracts.
Gayle usually treats "bumps and lumps" and performs procedures such as spays and neuters.
"I am very comfortable being just a general practitioner," he said.
More women also have joined the field since his days in vet school, Gayle said.
Costs have gone up because of some of those specialties, and sometimes people have to choose which procedures they can afford, especially when economic times are tight, Gayle said.
"We have had people, especially with specialization, who sometimes can't afford something like a $1,400 cataract surgery," he said. "Some people are opting out. I don't see it that much in my daily practice. But I am a general practitioner. I don't do exotic surgeries. It has not affected my practice that much."
And while medicines and technologies have jumped leaps and bounds since he began practicing, Gayle said, it's still that personal touch that matters.
"The new drugs that have come on in the last 10 to 15 years are truly amazing, but the art of veterinary medicine is still one on one," he said.
Gayle has no immediate plans for retirement and said he intends to keep practicing as long as the job is still fun.
"Veterinary medicine has been good to me. I've enjoyed it," Gayle said. "It's a neat vocation. Do I want to sit here and build a five-man practice? No. I don't have any desire to do that."
BORN: March 23, 1948, in Lexington, Ky.
EDUCATION: University of Georgia, doctor of veterinary medicine, 1972
FAMILY: Wife, Melissa; children, Christine Anderson and Connette Blake; three grandsons
HOBBIES: Traveling, running, mountain biking, playing tennis
MEMBERSHIPS: Georgia Veterinary Medicine Association, Trinity-on-the-Hill United Methodist Church
Comments
Dr. Gale is a wonderful veterinarian and I am glad that he is mine. Incidentally, he is holding my cat, "Maxwell." Thanks for all you do for the Animals in Harrisburg!
Well, I just caught this great article about our 'doggie doctor'. Very good! Dr. Gayle has been there for me and my various and assorted sweet doggies for almost as long as he has been there on Walton Way. And let's give credit also to sweet Christine at the front desk who is always so helpful, and that devoted Don who is so good with the animals and has been with Dr. Gayle for such a long time.
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