Our History
Delmar Animal Hospital opened its doors over 50 years ago, and today we continue the founding principle of combining high medical standards with personalized service. Not only does our practice boast cutting edge technology and experienced, knowledgeable veterinarians, but our size fosters a friendly atmosphere and close relationships between the veterinarians and their patients and clients. Explore our website or give us a call to see what Delmar Animal Hospital can do for you!
Drs. Jennifer Bull and Carrie O’Loughlin purchased the Delmar Animal Hospital from Dr. Stuart Lyman in March of 2005. They pledge to uphold the good reputation of this practice by providing quality veterinary care for your pets.
Jennifer Bull was a RCS High School student when she first joined the hospital. She gained valuable experience working with Drs. Lynk, Lyman and Vaughn, the founders of Delmar Animal Hospital. Dr. Bull graduated from Cornell University with her DVM and returned to Delmar Animal Hospital in 1994. She is married and has two sons who graduated from the Bethlehem School District.
Dr. Carrie O’Loughlin started her professional career as a Veterinary Technician in Cobleskill where she first met Dr. Bull. Dr. O’Loughlin received her DVM from Cornell University and has been with the Delmar Animal Hospital since 1998. When not caring for an animal at the hospital she can be found playing golf with her husband, or running a marathon.
Dr. Jenette Lane joined the Delmar Animal Hospital in the summer of 2011 after graduating from Colorado State University. She and her husband will be welcoming their first child, a girl, in the Spring of 2020.
Dr. Carol Pabin was born and raised in Ohio before heading east to New York to attend Cornell University. She spent 10 years at Capital District Veterinary Hospital as an emergency veterinarian before joining us in January of 2019. Outside of work, Dr. Pabin enjoys reading, kayaking, and camping with her family.
Our History
The roots of Delmar Animal Hospital go back to a veterinary practice established in Clarksville, NY, by Thurman Church Vaughn, Jr., DVM, who was born and raised in Greenville. Upon graduating from the New York State Veterinary College at Cornell University in 1944, during World War II, Dr. Vaughn became a commissioned officer in the US Army Veterinary Corps. In 1947, he returned to Greenville, where he both practiced veterinary medicine with Dr. Romery, and met and married the local math teacher, June Carlson.
In 1948, the Vaughns moved to Clarksville and opened a solo, mixed practice in the garage of their home on Olive Street. June did the bookkeeping and answered the telephone. That meant scheduling appointments and relaying messages through farmers’ wives when Thurm was making calls in the country.
In 1950, Dr. Vaughn built the Clarksville Animal Hospital at 1967 Delaware Avenue, Clarksville. (Today, that building houses the Clarksville Post Office and Ruby's Hair Salon.) His first employee was Burtis Woodruff, who took care of the building and the kennels filled with animals, both patients and tenants.
As the practice grew, other veterinarians were hired to handle farm calls and an ever-increasing number of companion animals. Their wives also answered the telephone and relayed messages through farmers’ wives.
Dr. Vaughn was a thoughtful and quiet man. He was conservative and pragmatic. He also was about 30 years ahead of modern veterinary medicine! From the opening of Delmar Animal Hospital, Dr. Vaughn promoted the use of routine vaccines on a triennial cycle (once every 3 years) instead of annually as was the standard of care at the time. His understanding of the immune system and vaccines made him believe that that was the correct vaccination schedule, not annually, which would have been too much, and not only once, which will be too little. His collegial relationship with key Cornell professors strengthened his resolve that this was indeed the right thing to do! So he went with his instincts, and stood out from the crowd, championing triennial vaccines locally, often having to educate other veterinarians and dog professionals on why his policy was different from everyone else. The last decade has brought many changes to veterinary medicine, and one is that triennial vaccines (once every 3 years) has become the standard of care. The belief is now backed up by multiple, modern veterinary medical studies, but those of us lucky enough to be mentored by Dr. Vaughn realize he knew that long ago!
In 1961, Dr. Robert E. Lynk joined the practice. Doc Lynk was a dairy farm boy from Sharon Springs. He served his country during the Korean War. He is a loyal Cornellian and that is where he met Nancy, his wife and the mother of their three children.
Dr. Lynk was a local pioneer of the PPU- Post Perineal Urethrostomy. Being a friend to all cats and cat owners, he was one of the first surgeons to learn and perfect the technique. He went on to travel to other local animal hospitals and even Cornell University to share the technique with other veterinary surgeons. Cats everywhere thank him!
His retirement has allowed him to continue to enjoy baseball and Crystal Lake and to dramatically increase the time he can spend pursuing another career in watercolors. He has been recognized with awards from NYSUMS and Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Salmon Award for Distinguished Alumni Service as Veterinarian of the Year.
By 1963, the small animal practice was booming. On the other hand, dairy farmers were selling their herds. Looking to the future, Dr. Vaughn built a new facility in Delmar at 910 Delaware Avenue. On January 13, 1964, the Delmar Animal Hospital had a very quiet grand opening, thanks to 14 inches of fresh snow. Dr. Vaughn and Dr. Lynk worked hard and went looking for new associates.
Dr. Stuart Lyman joined the practice in the 1970s. He had started out in a mixed animal practice in Pennsylvania after graduating from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. He settled in, grew family, started a family farm. He continued to provide large animal veterinary services to local farms, even as those farms slowly disappeared or struggled under the economic difficulties of modern farming. He was active in 4H and the Altamont Fair. He pioneered the very popular fair attraction of live calf births for public viewing. He served on the Bethlehem Central School Board for years. Now retired, he still farms producing sheep, wool, yarn, draft horses, straw, hay, field grains and pick your own raspberries with his wife, Jane Lyman. Check out Sleighbell Farm on Mead's Lane during raspberry season (August and September).
Dr. Laura Tenney joined the practice in the 1980s. She was one of the earlier female practitioners at Delmar Animal Hospital along with Holly Cheever and Vicky Rafter. Laura practiced mixed animal medicine, working in the hospital and on farm calls. She promptly swept a local farmer, Gerry Boone, off his feet and joined him on his family farm. Their son has joined them at the cow calf operation, plus the field grains, hay and some pigs. They are currently solar farmers too, having turned the historic farmstead into true green acres. She is now retired to head gardener, champion book reader and serves on the local library board.
The Delmar Animal Hospital is indebted to its outstanding support personnel — its veterinary technician, kennel manager and staff, office manager, bookkeeper, and receptionists.
