Dr. Eleanor Acworth

I started working with animals way before veterinary school. My family had the usual assortment of small pets and I tried to save every animal the cat brought home.  In high school in the 70’s I worked at a small animal hospital and experienced the devastation of parvovirus before there was a vaccine. In college I worked in the research department at the Philadelphia zoo and traveled to Africa and Alaska to study wildlife. Spending a summer milking cows in upstate New York cured me of wanting to become a dairy farmer but reinforced my desire to be a veterinarian, especially after spending time with a mixed animal veterinarian in Germany another summer.

Since moving to the Hudson Valley over 20 years ago I have been working in mixed animal practice, meaning both large and small animals, both farm and pet, as well as some exotics. I have gotten to know many of the people that live here and have seen the involvement of our farms and orchards with our communities, and how animals play such an important part of our lives.

I also have been involved in research. Although in practice we are always trying new things I have had an ongoing research project since 2000, and another we finished last year, as well as a few others over the years.

My volunteer activities involve bringing animals to my children’s schools, teaching technical, prevet, and veterinary students about mixed animal practice, Coleading our 4H club, and helping at the boathouse.

My children and I are active in 4H. They come with me when fair season comes, certifying and testing animals for county and state fairs. I enjoy being involved in helping people and their animals prepare for shows and sales both locally, nationally and sometimes even internationally. 

Having been an Olympic hopeful in rowing in the 80’s one of the reasons I came here was because of the rowing history of the Hudson River. I still row competitively, racing in the Head of the Charles and Head of the Schuylkill Regattas yearly, and occasionally running in some of the local fund raising running races. When the river is frozen I like to run on the many Rail Trails in the valley.