Mollie loved her job at the local feed store but her true passion was her beloved farm and its animals. She’d been anxiously watching the clock all day because Daisy, her prize-winning Jersey, was due to calve any day now and she couldn’t wait to get home to her.
The drive home seemed interminable even though it was only 20 minutes. At long last, she pulled into the long driveway that separated her quaint farmhouse from the road, and sped down the lane to the barn.
To her dismay, Daisy was laying down in her stall, her sides heaving, but there was no sign of a calf. Daisy had calved a little over a year ago and it went great. This time however, things didn’t appear to be going so well. Daisy was straining and in distress, and Mollie knew she needed her vet, but it was late on Saturday.
Alarmed, Mollie ran to her farmhouse and called her veterinarian’s office, only to be greeted by a recording. She didn’t have time to leave a message, Daisy needed help now! Going through the list of vet clinics in the area, her trembling fingers rapidly punched in one number after the other, only to be met with the same response: Another recording! What was she to do?
Now in a panic, Mollie tried one last veterinarian clinic. Success! A human answered the phone. As Mollie’s words tumbled out of her in no particular order, the receptionist at the veterinary answering service tried to calm her down and was able to get some details from her about Daisy’s condition, location, and the circumstances. The receptionist promised to dispatch a veterinarian to Daisy as soon as possible.
Mollie wasn’t aware that the kindhearted and efficient receptionist was located in a different state; she only knew that her emergency would be taken care of. The local animal hospital provided the after-hours answering service so that local residents would never be without emergency animal care whether late at night, on the weekends, or on holidays. They contacted the on-call veterinarian, who immediately grabbed his bag and instruments and was on his way.
Her alarm somewhat abated, Mollie flew back out to the barn. Within 20 minutes, Mollie heard tires crunching on the gravel that lined her driveway and she looked up in anticipation. Sure enough, it was Dr. McMullin, one of the local vets. He took one look at Daisy, rolled up his sleeves and got to work.
“Good thing I got here when I did, Mollie. Your Daisy is having twins and they’ve gotten kind of jammed up. Not to worry though, they’ll be out in no time.”
True to his word, in a few minutes Daisy had one wobbly, wet calf birthed and soon it was followed by another. Twins! How could she be so fortunate? Mollie rushed to Daisy’s head and began encouraging her to get up while the twins tried to wobble over to their mom. Dr. McMullin helped and soon Daisy was upright and the two new calves were contentedly at her side.
Mollie rushed over to Dr. McMullin and threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much, Dr. McMullin! You’ve saved my dear Daisy and her twins! How can I ever thank you? You don’t know what it means to have a your call answered by a person instead of a machine! I’m never using another veterinarian!”
Mollie knew that in the future, Dr. McMullin’s clinic would be the only veterinary office she’d ever use. The personal touch their after-hours answering service had provided had saved not only Daisy’s life but her twin calves’ lives as well.
