Englishtown Vet Offers Affordable Pet Care at Animals R Family Wellness Center

When a good samaritan brought an injured kitten, found on the side of an Englishtown road, into the Animals R Family Wellness Center, Dr. Dorothy Farr, DVM did not delay. Farr assessed the situation and realized that the cat had a severe eye infection and the eye had to be removed. Farr performed a successful surgery on the kitten, at no cost, and when she awoke the kitten began purring right away. This dedication and compassion for animals are what make Farr an extraordinary doctor. 

A former vet in Englishtown, Farr is back and working at Animals R Family Wellness Center, which aims to provide affordable pet care and overall wellness to animals. Growing up in Matawan, Farr said that she never wanted to be anything but a veterinarian. Her love of animals is more than apparent. She acquired so much experience working with animals at a young age - at kennels, race tracks and for horse and dairy vets - that she was accepted into Michigan State Veterinary School the first time she applied. 

Farr bought the Animlas R Wellness location at 22 Water Street in 1990 when she first opened her practice. She sold the practice in 2008 when she moved to Pennsylvania, but continued to remain in ownership of the real estate. 

For the past three years, Farr was running a low cost spay and neuter clinic in Somerset, New Jersey, even though she was living in Pennsylvania. The clinic grew considerably and Farr decided to move it back to the Englishtown location - and when her tenant’s lease was up she said that it was the perfect opportunity to move back in. 

With her main home in Pennsylvania, Farr travels 160 miles to stay in Englishtown and work at the Water Street practice for three days each week. Farr’s Englishtown home, where she raised her daughter, is located just four feet from Animals R Family Wellness Center. She said that she loves having the home so close to the clinic because she is able to quickly help out in emergency situations in the middle of the night and is nearby for animals recovering from surgery. Although, even with a home so close to the clinic, Farr said she sleeps overnight at the center with her patients while they are recovering from surgery in case they are in discomfort or need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. If an animal is suffering from an urgent emergency situation, Farr recommends sending them to a bigger animal hospital. 

“We’re in a really nice location here, we have some really big animal hospitals in the area that do great emergency work. So that’s why I started letting them take care of the animals after hours,”  Farr said. She recommends NorthStar Vets in Robbinsville and Red Bank Veterinary Hospital and Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls.

Farr said that she did not want to acquire too much equipment, including diagnostics such as intense X-Rays, in order to keep her prices low. The center works with a few other hospitals that allow Farr to refer her patients for basic diagnostics when needed.  

“The reason we developed this wellness center, rather than a typical traditional practice is because I’m trying to help people get the care their animals need without spending a tremendous amount of money,” Farr said. “While we’re not full service, I am trying to provide what we can at a decreased cost and still giving everybody as much information and client education.”

Animals R Family Wellness Center offers a variety of services that cater to the physical and mental wellbeing of animals. Farr sees a multitude of different animals including cats, dogs, rabbits, lizards, birds, hamsters, pigs, ferrets, guinea pigs, snakes, and even rats (whom she says are better pets than guinea pigs and hamsters). In addition to traditional veterinary services such as exams, vaccinations, spaying and neutering, weight management, dental check-ups, and surgeries, the practice also offers canine massage and a fiberglass swimming pool for dogs. 

Therapeutic and recreational swimming sessions are available for all dogs.  Swimming is an excellent form of exercise for dogs, which is vital in living a long, healthy life, according to Farr. The pool is located in a building in the back of the center and is accessible ten to eleven months out of the year. Dogs that are new to swimming are taught how to swim and eased into the activity, made easier by the fact that the water is warmer than most pools.  

Along with rubbing down the dogs, the wellness center’s canine massage therapist conducts demonstrations to teach people the benefit of massage. Participants watch on as the therapist performs massage on a dog to learn how it is done and what its merits are. 

Animals R Family also holds an array of different educational seminars. These seminar topics range from shopping for healthy pet snacks at the grocery store, to basic obedience, to how to deal with separation anxiety. The seminars are taught by professional trainers and other specialists. The topics for the seminars are open to suggestion and many clients will ask Farr to hold a discussion on certain issues.  

“A lot of times preventative medicine is part of what we do because if you keep the animal healthy you don’t have the tremendous expense [of an illness down the line]”, Farr said, mentioning that diabetes and obesity are some of the more detrimental diseases that can be prevented.

Animals R Family looks to continue helping animals by linking to a variety of local animal rescues. Farr helps the rescues out by examining the animals before they market them to find forever homes. She also helps the rescues match people with the breed and size that would be appropriate for them. 

Currently, Farr is the only vet on staff, but she is looking to hire one more vet a few days a week who has a similar approach to hers. If anyone is interested in applying to work at Animals R Family Wellness Center, please send your resume over to AnimalsRFamily22@yahoo.com.