Meet The Dr.
For Dr. Glenn Larkins, of Altamonte Veterinary Hospital, being part of a versatile, vital, small animal hospital was not what he envisioned for himself. It is now, however, a way of life 
for him and the community of pets and pet owners he serves.
Larkins, a graduate of Ross University in St. Kitts in veterinary medicine and a holder of a Master’s degree in agriculture specializing in nutrition from the University of Florida, began his career as a nutritionalist in rural areas all the way to Canada.
“My mission was to help farmers manage their farms and their farm animals. I put together the whole package for them,”
Larkins said.
Larkins helped train farmers to do the job themselves and to find the resources themselves. When he accomplished his goals and felt his work was needed elsewhere, he returned to Miami. His initial role in the field of veterinary medicine was in emergency services.
“I enjoyed the challenges working with vets all over the state. As an emergency vet you have to make critical decisions in a limited amount of time with a limited amount of lab work. You have to assemble a bunch of seemingly unrelated information and make a decision on often potentially fatal problems, all this while dealing with a stressed out client,”
he said.
After ten years in emergency medicine, Dr. Larkins was able to transfer his extensive knowledge of veterinary medicine to the Galloway Animal Hospital. Where, he was part of the Miami Veterinary Hospital group, which included the Galloway Animal Hospital, Austin-Daniels Animal Hospital, Dadeland Animal Hospital, Miami Lakes and Hialeah Animal Hospitals. Together this collection of independent doctors and hospitals were able to give their clients the advantages of a multi-doctor practice, while maintaining the intimacy of a small one-doctor practice.
“We have the capability of tapping into the expertise of the other doctors in the network,”
he said. Dr. Larkins left Galloway Animal Hospital in 1999 to purchase and run the Altamonte Veterinary Hospital.
“In the future, there will be two distinct branches of veterinary medicine: the discount style and the full service. When it comes to you and your pet, whom we consider a member of your family, we feel that we have a special responsibility to provide the finest in on-going care,”
he said. With those services, according to Dr. Larkins, come reasonable fees.
“We are not the most expensive, nor are we the cheapest veterinary practice out there. We try to maintain a reasonable fee structure. We are always happy to provide a complete written estimate prior to doing anything. Pets are not a luxury if you can afford to own them; secondly most people are willing to pay for quality care for their pets; and finally informed customers make the best customers,”
he said. A final closing thought from Dr. Larkins,
“I enjoy being able to aggressively treat and give quality care, to do everything possible for the good of the animal. My clients expect that of me and I want to do that for them.”
You can visit the Altamonte Veterinary Hospital at 1089 East Altamonte Drive in Altamonte Springs, Florida, or call: 407–339-1922. He offers the ORIGINAL first time new client courtesy office call and fecal exam. An offer which has been copied by other area veterinary practices.
