“What
makes you wake up early in the morning?” asks veterinarian Dr. Nielsen
Donato while strolling through his animal sanctuary. “It’s not work.
It’s something that you’re excited about.”
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| Zuma the Albino Burmese python and Doc Nielsen pose for the camera. |
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| Feeding time: Violet, a rescued tortoise, snacks on papaya. |
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| Best Friends Forever: Doc Nielsen and Kulit. |
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| Doc Nielsen demonstrates how to bathe a Bayawak, with his resident monitor lizard, Bruce. |
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| On full display: Drake the Peacock struts around his pen. |
When
people think of veterinarians, they usually think of them tending to
household pets, like cats and dogs. But Doc Nielsen isn’t a regular vet.
He’s the managing partner and chief surgeon at Vets In Practice (VIP),
which caters to not-your-usual pets, and he also has a background in
Avian and Exotic Medicine.
But
what makes him so special is his unbridled care for virtually any kind
of animal, be it crawling, flying, galloping, or slithering.
Doc
Nielsen’s passion started when he was around three years old. One of
his favorite childhood memories was being excited about going to church
just so he could see the yellow chicks and ducklings being sold by
vendors outside.
Today,
Doc Nielsen helps run the Laguna Wildlife Park & Rescue Center,
which sits within his family’s property in Pansol. This non-profit
organization houses around 100 species of farm animals and wildlife,
including domestic and neglected pets, as well as exotic animals that
were rescued from illegal sellers and dangerous living conditions. The
wildlife park has everything from chickens and goats to monkeys and a
serval cat, which he tends to with the help of his staff. It’s also
backed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
which assists in acquiring and transporting animals to the park.
The
veterinarian calls the park his “happy place,” which he visits as early
as 5 am to see all of the animals and listen to the different sounds
that envelope the whole park. “When I’m walking here in the morning or
afternoon, it relaxes me. Nalilimutan ko yung mga stress, that’s why I call it my ‘haven,’” says Doc Nielsen.
Compassion project
“We
support the animals with our own resources,” Doc Nielsen says as he
shows the many enclosures in the park that the animals call home. He
also provides them with nutritious food and medicine to keep them
healthy while they’re living in the park.
He
doesn’t do this alone. Apart from the staff he works with, Doc
Nielsen’s family also helps. His kids, Cedric and Nina, are studying
veterinary medicine, so they’re well on their way to following in their
dad’s footsteps.
Giving animals a second chance
While
giving a tour of the park, Doc Nielsen stops to feed and pet the
animals he passes by. One of them is a bearcat (binturong), a nocturnal
mammal with cat-like features that’s endemic to Palawan. Doc Nielsen
explains that the bearcats were transported to the park with the help of
DENR, and they are raised until they’re ready to be released back into
the wild.
“I
promised that if I ever breed any endemic wildlife animal in the park,
my goal is to help repopulate their species and bring them back to their
natural habitat,” he says. He also takes time to assess animals who
might need medical attention and treat them right away to prevent
infections.
It’s
not always easy for Doc Nielsen to let go of animals, especially those
that have been used to being around humans. Many of the monkeys, for
example, lived in crowded areas and were treated as pets in their past
lives. Releasing them back into the wild would be a safety risk for them
because a troop of wild monkeys might hurt them.
This
is why he and his staff ensure that animals like these get the care
they need so they can live a long and healthy life. The wildlife
sanctuary is their safe haven until they are ready to be released in a
protected space.
Whether
it’s at his clinic in the city or the wildlife park in Laguna, Doc
Nielsen is always ready to offer his expertise and care to all types of
species, no matter how scary they may seem.
“I
always dreamed of being someone like [British veterinary surgeon] James
Harriot. I’ve always wanted to treat dogs and cats, and farm animals as
big as horses, goats, and sheep,” he said. “There weren’t exotic
animals to treat yet [when I was just starting out.] Now, I’m lucky
because I get to treat more exotic animals, as well as farm animals, in
my clinic and the park.”
