It Happens Here: Weymouth's Odd Pet Vet is all about animals and people
WEYMOUTH – For nearly 40 years, the New England Wildlife Center, now with locations in Weymouth and on Cape Cod, has served as both hospital and home to rescued animals.
On the day WBZ-TV visited the Weymouth location, the place was buzzing. A pet ferret name Mister Frack was being anesthetized and treated for an adrenal gland problem. A painted turtle was having its cracked shell – struck by a car – repaired with wire. And a snapping turtle was undergoing surgery. In all, more than 50 animals were being treated that day for a variety of ailments.
At the center of it all is Dr. Greg Mertz, a veterinarian who has helped build the New England Wildlife Center into a remarkable teaching hospital and thriving private practice known as the Odd Pet Vet.
"Vet is about the veterinarian. Pet is about the pet. Odd is about the people who own these crazy animals," he told WBZ.
Name the exotic or wild animal, Dr. Mertz has treated it. He estimates he has seen more than 300 species at his practice and has treated more than 120,000 animals in his career. Just recently a man brought in a bumblebee that was unable to fly.
"We checked him in and we gave the bumblebee a big drink of water and a little bit of sugar, warmed him up, and he took off and flew," Mertz said. "The man could not have been happier."
When asked what he makes of people who question the value of saving the life of a bumblebee or painted turtle, he responds, "This guy's got a life just like you do, just like we all do. Not being able to relate to another life, I just find stupid."
And the Odd Pet Vet's not-so-odd goal is to bring that empathy to people. Over his vast career, he has taught some 250,000 elementary students with visits to classrooms. He runs a teaching program with the Norfolk County Agricultural School. He invites other high school and college veterinary students to work for him over the summer.
And he now works with prisoners, too, from the Norfolk County and Suffolk County jail systems.
Tony Amado, who's serving time at Norfolk, was helping Dr. Mertz with some of his patients on the day WBZ-TV visited.
"Hopefully when I leave here, I can come back and help volunteer," Tony said. And he plans to bring his kids in, too, to learn and become part of this community.
"There's nothing like caring for an animal to help center you to the world," Mertz said.
Mertz hopes to treat not just the animals, but the humans who encounter them.
"Our hope is that we can build better stewards of wildlife populations and better stewards of natural habitats," he said. "We have this little phrase in here that says, 'Be kind to animals. Be kind to people.'"
Mertz runs these programs through their locations in both Weymouth and the Cape. Visit the New England Wildlife Center's website.
