Veterinarian Dr. Edward Samuels calls his practice All Walks of Life Mobile Veterinary Services for good reason. He brings his services to you. Based in Angier, he travels a 50-mile radius to provide care for horses and small animals – including many pets.

“I know my clients and I know their pets,” he said, “and that’s what makes this work fun.” For the past 10 years he has been treating animals, and he recently expanded his services to include a mobile clinic that provides low cost spaying and neutering.

Spaying and neutering are important not just for the long-term health of the animal but because without some prevention people would soon have more cats and dogs than they could care for. Samuels said that one average cat and its first litter could create about 420,000 more cats in just seven years. That’s a lot of cats to feed.

In addition to spaying and neutering at the clinic, Samuels also provides wellness care such as rabies shots and other inoculations.

“I used to think that people didn’t want to spay or neuter their animals and then I realized that they want it – they just can’t afford it,” Samuels said.

Samuels said he looked into various ways to offer a low cost clinic and he didn’t like the trailers he found, so he decided to create his own. Last fall he bought an RV and completely remodeled it to make a custom mobile clinic.

“I measured everything to make sure I could fit tables and equipment,” he said. He said he wanted it to have plenty of room. “I wanted it to be comfortable for us to work in all day,” he said. He made the surgery tables at the height that would put less stress on his back while operating. In the area of the RV that would have carried a car, he installed cages where the animals can rest comfortably after surgery until their owners can pick them up.

He installed lights for the surgery area, along with two stainless steel tables. He carries an x-ray machine and an ultrasound in the truck that tows his mobile clinic. When he makes house calls he can take just the truck that is fully equipped with supplies that would be needed for an office visit. If surgery is necessary, he can pull the trailer but there has to be plenty of room for him to park.

His wife Jill, who often accompanies Samuels on his clinic days, said he did much of the work on the clinic himself. Jill and Veterinary Technician Daphne Pegram, along with Dr. Samuels, make up the team that provides care at the mobile clinic that visits Selma, Lillington, Fuquay-Varina, Dunn, Garner, Coats and Sanford. They plan eventually to expand their coverage to Clayton, Raleigh and Wendell.

Jill is an engineer and was laid off from her job last fall. While any job loss can be difficult, the Samuels saw it as an opportunity for them to expand the veterinary practice. With Jill managing the business, it was possible to grow the practice to include the mobile clinic.

Samuels said that he was known in veterinary school as taking too much time with his clients but he said he never saw it as a problem to take that extra time with each animal. “I don’t like the ‘doc in a box’,” he said, where animals are pushed through appointments as quickly as possible. He said he would rather take the time that is needed to make sure that the animal is getting the proper care.

To make an appointment with Dr. Samuels for a home visit or for a visit to his mobile clinic call 919-567-2965.