By Lanell Downs Smith

After 37 years serving pet owners in Crenshaw County and surrounding areas, Crenshaw Animal Clinic has transitioned under the wings of another local practice, the Luverne Veterinary Hospital (LVH).

Dr. Jones, owner of the Luverne Veterinary Hospital, announced the operation purchased the practice from longtime Luverne veterinarian, Dr. Alethea Gammage, who is taking a step back into retirement.

“Dr. Gammage has a great practice,” said Jones. “She’s been here a long time. As she was getting ready to retire, it was an obvious choice for us to purchase the practice and bring her clients over here with us. 

“Luverne has been really good to us. Hopefully this move offers Dr. Gammage the opportunity to retire and pursue some of her other interests. This gives us the chance to strengthen our practice at the same time, so it was a no-brainer for us.”

Gammage’s vet tech, Hope “Jiggy” Majors has transferred to LVH, which now operates with two veterinarians, Jones and Dr. Caitlin Blackmon, as well as four vet techs. Majors’ addition to the team affords the practice the ability to add grooming back to the list of offerings which includes small- and large-animal care.

Gammage, who just reached the 65-year-old milestone, said it was time to cut back a little, although she has not completely retired from veterinary medicine.

“I haven’t really retired,” Gammage said. “I’m still working at urgent care clinics in Montgomery and Enterprise, mainly on the weekends. So, I’m not calling it retirement at all.”

While Gammage will remain in Crenshaw County for a while, her long term goal is to relocate to live closer to her family.

“Eventually I want to leave Luverne and probably settle in the Auburn area,” Gammage said. “My daughter is an instructor at the university there at Auburn, and then my son is in Birmingham, so I don’t have any family here, or haven’t in a long time. My eventual goal is to get closer to them.”

Longtime Crenshaw Animal Clinic client, Lynda Turner of Luverne, expressed her gratitude to Gammage for the many years of service.

“I would like to thank Dr Gammage for taking such good care of all my pets for all of these years,” Turner said. “I will miss her and am wishing her the best in her retirement.”

Jones said the practice welcomes Gammage’s clients and aims to provide them with the same quality of care they have come to expect.

“We’re really excited to welcome all of her clients and her patients over and hope to continue caring for them the same way she has all these years,” Jones said. “We hope to offer them a great level of service and take good care of their pets just like they were our own, because I know that’s how she’s approached it all her career. So, we want to continue that.”

Vet tech Sydney Best worked for Dr. Gammage for two years and said she enjoyed every minute of it.

“Dr. Gammage is the most caring and selfless person that I have ever met,” said Best. “I have enjoyed working with her for the past two years. She was an amazing boss, which can be difficult to come by, and her years of dedication and work will be impossible to forget.”

Office manager for LHS, Carrie Mitchell, said while the vet hospital acquired the practice, it did not purchase the building. Gammage confirmed she is in the process of moving out and will eventually sell the facility.

“Her office has closed down completely,” Mitchell said. “We are not buying the building, but her clients will start coming to us. We will leave her phone number up and running for a couple of months.”

Luverne Veterinary Hospital is open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. To schedule an appointment, please (334) 535-0161.