PEMBROKE — Kelly Fox is an expert in rescuing dogs and cats. Having collected a houseful of animals, she has become something of an expert on the subject of veterinarians.
Although Fox lives in Hope Mills, she brings her dogs and cats to Pembroke veterinarian David Brooks. Dr. Brooks is more than a vet to her, he is a hero, who recently brought two of her dogs back from the brink of death.
“There are few people in the world who have the dignity, intelligence, kindness, and love that he exudes on a daily basis,” Fox wrote in a letter to The Robesonian.
Fox had previously used the Pembroke clinic because it was convenient. But in an emergency, she learned it was a whole lot more.
“Soon after I began working in Pembroke (as an English teacher at Purnell Swett High School), I began taking all of my animals to Dr. David Brooks at Pembroke Veterinary Animal Hospital because it was convenient to drop them off in the morning and pick them up after work,” she said. “I soon realized, however, that Dr. Brooks was no ordinary veterinarian.”
With animals as with people, routine care occasionally is punctuated by emergency care. When one of Fox’s dogs contracted parvo, she feared the worst.
“In all my years of caring for animals, I have never had a dog survive parvo,” she said. “When I took a tiny, delicate, fragile Chihuahua to Dr. Brooks, he became the first vet in my history to save a dog from parvovirus.”
Parvo is an intestinal virus that is very serious and presents horrendous symptoms, Brooks said. The treatment requires continuous care and monitoring.
“Many veterinarians have had success treating dogs with parvo,” Brooks said. “Untreated, it’s almost always fatal. In treating parvo, early treatment is important.”
A second emergency arose when Fox took several of her dogs in for routine care, and one had an allergic reaction when she got home.
“We had a little dog with a severe allergic reaction and rushed the dog back to Dr. Brooks,” Fox said. “We were afraid she would die by the time we got there.
“Dr. Brooks took her in, and within 30 minutes, you could barely tell that there was anything wrong with her. She is playing in front of me at this very moment.”
Brooks said the situation was serious because an anaphylactic reaction can affect breathing. He gave the dog an antidote.
But that’s not the end of the story. Fox was in such a hurry to get to Pembroke, she forgot her wallet and needed gasoline. Dr. Brooks loaned her $10.
“That’s something anybody would do,” Brooks said. “I’m not a hero.”
Fox believes otherwise. There are “incredible individuals who make a difference in this world. There are far too many negative things happening that it is easy to forget the Dr. Brooks’ of this world,” she said.
Brooks also is a leader locally in providing clinics during which animals are spayed and neutered at a considerable discount and rabies clinics at which a vaccination is offered at a reduced cost.
