All Types of Personalities at the East Village Green Animal Hospital

The East Village Green Animal Hospital doesn't discriminate when it comes to treating animals. Once, according to office manager Susan Benjamin, they had to take care of a Coatimundi, which is a South American raccoon. “We got it from Pets of the World in Bethpage,” she said.

The East Village Green Animal Hospital specializes in treating all sorts of animals like cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and gerbils. However, their usual animal visitors are cats and dogs. They can see anywhere from seven or eight cats and dogs in one day to more than twenty. “We see more right after a holiday,” Benjamin said, "usually because an animal got into food that they weren’t supposed to.”

It is also fairly common for the hospital to receive a dog that has been injured after being hit by a car. “We get those often enough,” said Benjamin. “You don’t get that as often with cats even thought cats do get hit. However, the cats usually do not survive the accident.”

A number of strays have been taken in by the hospital. Other times someone will leave their pet outside of the hospital anonymously during the night. Most recently, a group of five kittens was taken in. In a few months, they will be ready for adoption.

The head veterinarian, Dr. Evan Blonder, is especially proud of the new equipment the hospital has received. The new equipment includes an x-ray allows the staff to immediately see the results of an x-ray instead of waiting ten minutes to get the results. The staff can also immediately email the x-ray elsewhere if a second opinion is needed. “We can package studies for consultation over the internet,” said Dr. Blonder.

Perhaps the most interesting facets of the hospital are the animals that live there permanently. Charlie the dog, who is Dr. Blonder’s, can always be seen walking around, looking at everyone comes in as if he is the supervisor. An 120-pound pig named Oscar, who just had his second birthday, also lives there on a full time basis. When he was only a few months old, his first owner dropped him off because she did not bond with the pig. Now, Oscar stays with the staff at the animal hospital.

Members of the staff take him out for a walk on a leash almost as if he is a dog. “We always get people asking what he is,” said Benjamin. “Some people even think he’s a dog.” Oscar does not get as excited as a dog does when you pet him, but he does happily respond to those who give him food.