4 THEDAILYSTANDARD, Celina,Ohio Town & CounTy

Friday,June9,2017

Receive

Offer expires 6/30/17

$50 off

Coldwater • Minster • New BremenSt. Marys • Wapakoneta • Celina

1-800-772-1139

$960CLEAN EFFECTSWHOLE HOUSEAIR CLEANER

with system install(Reg. $1080 with system

Furnace, AC, Tstat)Not valid with any otheroffers. (Exp. 6/30/17)

Roessner EnergyProducts, Inc. Coldwater

0%FinancingAvailablewith credit approval

Not valid with any otheroffers.

Roessner EnergyProducts, Inc. Coldwater

$100 OFFTRANE200 Bypass

Whole HouseHumidifier

With New Furnace or AC(Reg. $495)

Not valid with any otheroffers. (Exp. 6/30/17)

Roessner EnergyProducts, Inc. Coldwater

$1,250

$2925 $3811

By AMY KRONENBERGERtc@dailystandard.com

Dr. Craig Miesse, DVM,and I drove across MercerCounty and into Indiana afewweeksagotocallonsev-eralfarms,mostlyownedbyAmishpeople. I had been looking for-ward to this day with highanticipation. I have a fer-vent love for animals andcouldn’t wait to witness aveterinarian’s typicalday. Iknew veterinary medicineincluded a dark side — atragicsideinwhichanani-malwouldbebeyondhelporperhaps hadn’t been treat-ed as it should have beenby its human owners. ButI also knew of the wonder-ful,rewardingaspects—thegrand, life-saving momentsand the birth of new life.As I looked forward to theday,Ihopedfor the bestwhile steel-ing myselffor theworst. We trav-eled downthe qui-et, coun-try roadstoward thefirstfarm,passinganAmishfamily in a horse-drawnbuggy along the way, whileMiesse, co-owner of CelinaAnimalHospital,spokepas-sionatelyaboutthejobthathas been the focal point ofhislifefor36years. He said a person needspassion to do the work hedoes,butonemustbecare-ful and learn to balancethejobwithlifeoutsidetheoffice. He noted how diffi-cult it is to say no to a cli-entwhocalls in themiddleofthenightaboutanailinganimal,butsometimes,say-ingnoisnecessary. “If you’re not careful,the job can consume you,”hesaid.“Thenonedayyouwake up and you wonder,‘whatmonthisit?’” Miesse admitted to find-ing it difficult to balanceworkwithhispersonal life,confessing his work is hislife. His passion was obvi-ous, and the 62-year-olddidn’t seem like he’d bereadytoslowdownanytimesoon. Most of Miesse’s farmcalls that morning involvedmares’ ultrasounds to findout if they were pregnant.Excellent, I thought. I lovehorses and I love babies.Whatcouldbebetter? Miesse gave no prelimi-naryexplanationofhowvet-erinarians perform ultra-sounds on mares or anyother large animals. In myhead I imagined somethingsimilar to a human ultra-sound: putting the gel andthehandhelddevicedirect-lyonthepregnantbellyandthe image appears on themonitor.Boy,wasIwrong. My first warning signappeared in the form of along plastic glove. Miessesaidhehadagoodreasontocut off his left sleeve as heslidonthegloveandpinnedit to the rough sleeve edgenear his shoulder. Did Idetectanimpishexpressionashesmiledatme?WarningsignNo.2. Still, bravely I followedhim to the poor horse nowoutofthebarnandcorrallednear an enclosed watertrough.Shetossedherhead,her large, innocent browneyesstaringhimdownwitha look of fear and dread.I’mcertainsheknewMiessewellandwasn’thappyabout

hispresence. Still,withcalmingreas-surances and pats fromMiesse and the farmer, shelet Miesse approach. Hemoved her tail aside andcalmly inserted his handintoherrectumandpushedhis way in up to his upperarm. I involuntarily took asmallstepbackward.Iknowmyexpressionmirroredthehorse’s as she continuallyglancedbackatMiessewithpeakedeyebrowsandalookof horror that clearly said,“you’ve got to be kiddingme!” Miesse proceeded withpolite conversation withthe farmer, as though casu-allystandingoverthewatercoolerattheoffice,discuss-ingthechancesofrainthatday, all the while pullingfeces — easily a pound ortwo if not more — out ofthe mare’s colon. I inchedbackwardsomemoreaspoosplattered on the concretefloor. When all was clear,Miesse covered the ultra-sound device with copiousamountsofgelandreinsert-ed his arm. Curiosity drewme closer to within a fewfeet behind Miesse to geta better look at the ultra-sound screen. What lookedlike nonsensical gray staticto me provided a wealth ofinformationtoMiesse. He pointed out a shapeon the screen, which wasbarelydiscerniblefromtherest of the static. This, hesaid, was the uterus. AmidthefuzzMiessecouldclear-lyseethatnotonlywasthehorse not pregnant but shewas also a few days awayfrom ovulation and goingintoheat. Miesse removed his armwhileIstillstoodafewfeetbehindhimandthemare.Ifever a horse were trying toexactrevenge,thiswasit—forseverallongseconds. “Now you can writeaboutwhatit’sliketohaveahorsepassgasinyourface,”Miesse said with a laugh.“You just say ‘that’s right,girl.Getitout.’...Allyoucandoischuckleandmoveon.” With the first mare’sexam ending in a negativepregnancytest,thenexttwohorses and then two cowswere ushered in for thesame treatment. All testscameupnegative. IsilentlypushedawaythoughtsthatImightbeajinx. The second horse was abit more feisty and didn’twant to let Miesse proceedwithoutat leastsomeresis-tance.Sheloweredherhipsa few times — a warningsign, Miesse said, that shewas about to kick. He saidshewasnotatallhappywithhim. “I can’t say I’d be veryhappy with you either if Iwereinhershoes,”Ireplied.

Miesseallowedhimselfasmallchucklebeforebrave-lyproceeding. The ultrasounds werecomplete, but Miesse’s jobat this farm was not. Thefarmer asked him to lookatafourthmare—onethatwas not doing well, in vis-ible pain and struggling towalk.Asthefarmerledherintotheenclosure,myheartcompletely broke for thisbeautifulgirl.Icouldalmostfeelherpainasshehobbled.I will not share the detailsof this horse’s sad story forobviousreasons. Miessesaidhecouldpos-siblysaveherbuthewouldneed to start work imme-diately. I hoped the farm-er would give him the OK.I wanted to see the horsesurvive, thrive, be healthyagain.Iwantedtobeawit-ness to a grand, life-savingmoment.Butthatwasnottobe. The farmer decided thatdue to her advanced age of25 he would euthanize herinstead. This was my firsttime witnessing a horsebeing euthanized. I hope itwasmylast. Miesse also was upsetby the suffering mare. Hetoldmequietlythathegetsangrywhenheseesanani-mal suffer as a result ofhumanaction—orinaction.He never let his emotionsshowtohisclients,however.Healwaysmaintainedanairof professionalism and per-formed his job with experthands. Ihadaskedhimearlierinthedayhowhehandlessuchsituationsandhowheisableto leavehisemotionsat thedoortogetthejobdone. “Sometimesyoudon’t,”hereplied.“Youknow,youjusthave to deal with it. You’vebeen working with animalsa long time, but it doesn’tmakeitanyeasier.Itaffectsyou.” Laterinthedaywerevis-ited the subject, discussingthebeautifulmarethathadlostherlife. “There’s thecycleof life,atimetobeborn,atimetodieandthat’s that,”hesaidfrankly. “I don’t think youever fully— like today, thatwassad,Ithought.” He was right. In thewake of sadness, the cycleof life goes on. We visitedthenextfarmtoinseminatea horse that already had ahealthy, playful colt at herside. Miesse said horseshave an 11-month gestationperiod, and they prefer tohave their babies in Marchor April. This makes Maytheidealtimeformatingorinsemination. I was given the veryimportant job of holdingthemare’stailwhileMiessewent to work. All the whilethecuriouscoltstayedbymyside.Iwastoldhewasteeth-

ing and, therefore, wantsto chew on everything. Heseemed to think my jacketwas the ideal teething ringand spent the duration ofmy visit chewing on it. Mycoatmayhavebeencoveredin horse slobber and per-haps was a little worse forwearwhenallwassaidanddone, but I didn’t mind intheleast.Hewassocute;itwasworthit.IthinkImadeanewbestfriendthatday. At the next farm, a foalbornjusthoursearlierwasstrugglingtostandandwalkandthereforewasfailingtonurse. The foal had issueswithitsjoints.Theyseemedto hyperextend, especiallyattheknees. Priority No. 1 was to getthe foal the nutrients itneededfrommother’smilk.Miesse first worked withthe baby to see if it wouldlatchtotheteat.Thesweetthing tried but failed, soMiesse instead milked thehorse and fed it to the foalthroughatubeinsertedintoits nose. Miesse asked metoholdthesmalltubfulloffresh milk while he suckeditintoasyringeforfeeding.Despitethesmallsplatterofmilkonmyfaceandonmysaliva-covered jacket, theexperience of helping thisadorable,ganglingcreaturewasveryrewarding. Miessetoldthefarmertokeep working with the foalto get it to latch. He alsosaidintimeandwithprop-ernutrition, it couldrecov-er from its joint issues asthe ligaments and tendonsstrengthen. He whisperedto me in confidence, how-ever, that with joint issuesthat severe, he would besurprised if the foal madeit.HeartbreakNo.2. Ourlaststopofthemorn-ing involved three moremare ultrasounds — morepoo, more very scandal-ized-looking horses. Onetest confirmed a pregnan-cy. Miesse pointed out theverynoticeableblackcircleamidstthegraystatic—thefluid sack containing thetinyembryo.Theother twomareswerelikelypregnant,but Miesse said they weretoo early on to confirm itwithultrasound. “Looks like you’re not ajinxafterall,Amy,”Miessesaid as though reading mymindfromearlier. Driving back to Celina,Miessesaidthebestaspectof his job is the feeling ofaccomplishment after hav-ing helped an animal thatotherwise would not havesurvived. The worst, hesaid, is losing the animalafter his best efforts andthen telling the client thenews. “There are certain situ-ations, with a companionanimal especially, it mightbe a person’s only friend,”he said. “How do you tellsomebody that’s 80 yearsold, a little lady that’s losther husband to cancer andshe’s dying of cancer thatherlittlepuppyhascancer.I’vehadthatexactscenariohappentome.” As for me, despite themoments of heartache, Ithink I may have to revisitthis fascinating career fora future column, perhapsnext time spending timewithsmallanimals. — Amy Kronenberger will spend time with a different professional each month, learn what he or she does and then share her experi-ence with readers. To submit a comment or future column idea, contact Kronenberger at tc@dailystandard.com or at

Dr. Craig Miesse, DVM, examines a newborn foal that is having difficulty standing and cannot nurse.

Veterinarian’s day features highs and lowsA Job Like No Other

Amy Kronenberger/Daily Standard

Kronenberger

TheCenter forNeurologi-cal Development’s weeklydrawing winners for Maywere Jerry Geier, Celina,No. 390; Renee Jutte, Dick-son, Tennessee, No. 201; GinPeyla,FortRecovery,No.787;Rob Bubeck, Rossburg, No.548; and Mike Pax, Coldwa-ter,No.331.

Monthly drawing winners named

TheStatelineWritersClubwill meet at 10 p.m. June 17at the Mercer County PublicLibrary,Celina. The suggested composi-tion topics are “graduation”or“change.”Iftimepermits,a language arts lesson willfollow.Thepubliciswelcometoattend.

Writers’ club meets June 17

The U.S. Department ofLabor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administrationannounce it has designatedJune 12-18 as Safe + SoundWeek, a new nationwideeffort thatcallsonorganiza-tions of all sizes in a widerange of industries to raiseawareness of the value andimportance of workplacesafetyandhealthprograms. Joining OSHA to sponsorthe effort are the NationalSafety Council, AmericanIndustrial Hygiene Associa-tion, American Society ofSafety Engineers and theNational Institute for Occu-pational Safety and Health.In addition, 85 trade asso-ciations,industryandprofes-sionalgroupsarepartneringwiththeinitiative. “Our nation has madegreatstridesinraisingaware-nessabouttheimportanceofworkplace safety, yet morethan 4 million workers suf-fer serious job-related inju-riesorillnessesannually.Wecandobetter,”U.S.Secretaryof Labor Alexander Acostasaid. Participating in Safe +Sound Week can help orga-nizations get their safety

and health program startedor energize an existing one.Whileapproachesvary,effec-tive programs have threecoreelements: • Management leadershipthatcommitstoestablishing,maintaining and continu-ally improving the program.Managers must also provideneededresourcestosupporttheprogram. • Workers who help iden-tify solutions for improve-ments. A workforce engagedinsafetyandhealthprogramsresult in higher productiv-ity,increasedjobsatisfactionandstrongworkerretention,which combine to increaserevenuesandlowerturnoverandrecruitmentcosts. • A systematic “find andfix”approachthatcallsuponemployersandworkersaliketoexaminetheirworkplaces— proactively and routine-ly—to identifyandaddresshazards before an injury orillnessoccurs. Information on how toparticipate in Safe + SoundWeek, ideas for events andresources and details ofplanned events around thecountryareavailableatosha.gov/safeandsoundweek.

OSHA designates Safe + Sound Week

Full Sound chamber group perform for residents at Elm-wood Assisted Living of New Bremen. Five Loritsch broth-ers playing violins, cello and piano offered a variety of music including “Armonico,” “Romanze,” “Septet for Winds & Strings,” “Maple Leaf Rag” and “Now the Green Blade Rises.” Residents enjoyed the entertainment and hearing about how the young men learned violin at ages 11 and 16.

Submitted photo

The sound of music

For birth, engagement,wedding and anniversary forms,

go to The Daily Standard’s website atwww.dailystandard.com/forms.