Interview with Dr. William I. Gay

Harden: Would you begin by talking about your own background-your education, and why you became a veterinarian?

Gay: I grew up on a farm in upstate New York, at the north edge of the Catskills, where I worked with livestock. If you were a farm boy and did not have any money, you could go to a state school like the veterinary college because you did not have to pay tuition. I worked my way through Cornell [University] from 1944 to 1950 and earned a DVM [Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine]. When I got through, there were lots of jobs for veterinarians–more than there are now. I indicated to one of my professors that I needed experience in treating small animals, so I went to work for a small animal practitioner in New York City. Now, I mean Queens, not Manhattan. The practice was located halfway between JFK [John F. Kennedy Airport] and La Guardia Airport. JFK was known as Idlewild Airport in those days. They were building a big connecting road right through our practice (animal hospital) area. We had a lot of business. I worked with cats, and with the more unusual animals that came into the practice. The old timers did not really care for cats and birds; they were happy to give those cases to a young, flexible guy.

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Harden: Thank you very much, Dr. Gay.