Sharpsville native returns to local veterinary hospital

Jun. 8—CLARK — When clients stop by Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital later this summer, they might see the new veterinarian Dr. Taylor O'Malley — a local resident whose journey has brought her from Sharpsville, to Clark, to Colorado, and back again.

Starting on July 11, O'Malley will be one of four full-time veterinarians at Happy Tales, located at 3432 Valley View Road, Clark.

However, even though the position is a new one for O'Malley, the veterinarian is a Sharpsville native who previously worked at Happy Tales as a veterinary technician, which means she'll see a lot of familiar faces bringing her their pets for checkups.

"I've already bumped into a few friends from school, or had friends and relatives tell me they're bringing their animals here from now on," O'Malley said.

O'Malley graduated from Sharpsville Area High School in 2011. She spent some time during high school working seasonally at a kennel owned by the spouse of Dr. Daniel Baker, a longtime veterinarian who operated Baker Animal Hospital since 1982.

That experience at the kennel helped O'Malley discover a passion for animals, and although she worked a few different jobs over the years, she graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in biology and a minor in chemistry.

O'Malley was later hired as a veterinary technician at Baker Animal Hospital, now known as Happy Tales Veterinary Hospital, after Baker's retirement in 2017 and the purchase of the property by Dr. Charles and Jennifer Yurkon.

O'Malley worked alongside the new co-owners and they, in turn, recognized O'Malley's devotion to clients' animals and saw the potential to take her career beyond work as a veterinary technician.

"You can tell when someone has the passion for it," Jennifer said. "You'll see signs like asking more questions about how things work or coming in on their day off to see a weird surgery."

Ultimately O'Malley took the Yurkons' advice and pursued a master's degree in business administration and a doctorate in veterinary medicine through a combined, four-year program at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Charles himself had graduated from the same university, and was able to give O'Malley some firsthand guidance on what the program entailed and whether she would be willing to complete the program.

"I've had classmates who go through a year or so and decide, 'This isn't what I want to do,' and that's fine, but even if you're only there a year, that's a lot of debt that you're taking on," Charles said.

There were some difficulties, since O'Malley spent about a year dealing with remote education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, O'Malley's experience working as a veterinary technician helped her understand some of the concepts and procedures better than some classmates who were completely new to the field.

"Instead of something I'd read in a book or heard a teacher describe, it's like, 'Oh, I've done this before,'" O'Malley said.

O'Malley graduated from the university earlier this year and returned from Colorado to her hometown of Sharpsville, where she now lives with her husband and three stepchildren.

Although she looks forward to working alongside the staff at Happy Tales again and serving the community's pets, O'Malley said it will be important to balance work and her personal life.

Whether that means spending time with her loved ones or enjoying the outdoors, O'Malley said that balance is something the Yurkons have often stressed with her and the rest of the Happy Tales staff.

For some in the veterinary field, the pressures of the job can lead to burnout or worse, work-related depression, Charles said.

"You're working 12- to 16-hour days, so you might be missing out on what's happening outside the office," Charles said. "But you might also have an animal that's suffering and the owner isn't doing what they should — that can be really hard on people."

"We always tell the staff, our door is always open if you need a day off or you need to talk," Jennifer said.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.