(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Columbia Animal Hospital Associate Veterinarian Janelle Loper.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Gulfport on May 10, 1977.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to Central Elementary until the fifth grade, then we moved to Oregon temporarily. I went to West Linn High School in Oregon and started college after that. I went to Mississippi State for vet school and Oklahoma State for my undergraduate.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I’m an associate veterinarian at Columbia Animal Hospital, and I’ve been in this clinic since 2008. I graduated vet school in 2002. I do mostly exam room visits, but recently Dr. Carson retired so I do surgery in the morning and the exam rooms in the afternoon. We see patients from 7:30 to 5:30 Monday through Friday and Saturday from 8 to 12. The days vary. You can see all different things throughout the day. It’s always an unpredictable profession because you may see mostly vaccinations one day and the next an animal hit by a car. It’s always changing.
Q: What led you to your profession?
A: I always loved animals like anybody who wants to be a vet does. When I was in junior high my mom said if I was really interested in animals that I needed to start spending some time in a vet clinic to see if it’s what I wanted to do. I was in 4-H, and we had a veterinarian come talk to our 4-H group. That veterinarian was in Oregon, Dr. Kurt Schrader, who is actually a U.S. representative now, and he gave me my first job. I started volunteering with him in middle school, and in high school he gave me a job cleaning kennels and filing paperwork. It progressed and I got to do more the longer I was there. He gave me my start.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: I like helping people through helping their animals. A lot of people who we treat their animals that may be the only family they have. They could’ve lost their husband or their children moved out, and that’s their companionship so to be able to help them to have good quality lives that helps their owners with stress, blood pressure and just peace of mind.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: It’s definitely when you lose a patient, especially one you’ve been treating for a long time. You get attached not only to the patient but the owner. That’s hard. It’s also challenging if you can’t help a patient. I’m learning the older I get it’s easier to say, “I don’t know,” but it’s still difficult to say it because there’s a lot of patients that you try to help but can’t really tell exactly what’s going on.
Q: What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
A: Honesty is the most important lesson. Even if something goes wrong, you have to be willing to be honest because things do happen. There is human nature and things do happen, but to be upfront and honest is the most important.
Q: When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I always wanted to be a vet. We’ve always had animals — horses, dogs, you name it.
Q: Who are the people who have been most influential in your life?
A: Definitely as a child my parents, John and Lynn Pavur, because they always wanted me to be able to do whatever I could do. They were always very good about helping me to set goals and push me towards those goals. They helped me to see how to accomplish them. As an adult, definitely my husband. He’s helped me to be a better person. His name is Patrick, and he owns Little River Dirt and Dozer.
Q: Do you have children?
A: I have a son, Josh, who is 24.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Crawfish. It’s my favorite.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I’ve traveled a lot, but I would like to go to Italy. I wouldn’t want to go with the circumstances right now with the coronavirus, but I want to see the old architecture.
Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your spare time?
A: We have a camper and camp a lot at Little Black Creek. I have horses that we ride. My animals are mostly my hobbies outside of work. We have goats, horses, chickens, cats, a miniature donkey; they have a lot of personality so we spend a lot of time with the animals. Church is very important to me and my husband. We go to Clear Creek Baptist Church and spend a lot of time there.
Q: What do you enjoy about Columbia and Marion County?
A: I love the people here. I was working in Petal when I came to this clinic, and the people here are so friendly and warm and inviting. They’re grateful for your help. That’s the best thing. When you walk into a store or a restaurant, they greet you, ask about how you’re doing and remember who you are. There’s just a real nice, warm community here.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: Abraham Lincoln. He’s one of my favorite politicians. I think I would want to talk to him about the state of the nation now and what he would recommend to do to help our country be the best it can be.
Q: What moment in your life has had the biggest impact on who you are today?
A: Going through Hurricane Katrina and not knowing if my family had survived or not. My parents stayed in Bay St. Louis, and for about three to four days I didn’t know if they had survived or not. There wasn’t any way of communicating with them, and the National Guard wouldn’t let anyone go down there that wasn’t a resident of that area. Going through those times of not knowing is pretty impactful. It makes you realize how important your family is. It made our family closer because it took away our mobile devices and television with no power for two weeks so we spent a lot of time together. That’s something we always don’t get to do or take the time to do.
Q: Using one word for each, what are your top three morals?
A: Compassion, honesty and faithfulness.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I just hope that I’m remembered as a kind, honest and compassionate person.
