Crossgates Veterinary Clinic opened for businessin 1978, making it one of the oldest privately-owned vet clinicsin Rankin County. It was founded by Jim and Gail Anderson.In 2014, Dr. Todd Sullivan and his wife, Stacie Sullivan, purchased the clinic. Theytook over the practice that year, while the Andersons remained on staff until 2018.NICOLE SCHULER54 • APRIL 2021
Crossgates Veterinary Clinic is located onHighway 80 in front of the Pearl Walmart. Whenthe practice first opened its doors in 1978, itwas in the middle of a cattle field. The practiceserved as a veterinary clinic for large animals,mainly cattle. Today, it is a full-service generalpractice for small animals.Dr. Jenny Jones Sowell, Dr. Keri KennedyHobby, and Dr. Sarah Fuller work alongside Dr.Todd Sullivan. Dr. Jenny Sowell has a specialinterest in feline medicine, earning the clinic itsstandard as a Gold Certified Cat FriendlyPractice. In fact, she also holds the title asone of the Top 10 Young Feline Vets in theUnited States. The clinic offers a variety of felineservices, including referrals.Dr. Sarah Fuller offers a vast amount ofservices in emergency medicine, allowing theclinic to operate as an urgent care clinic duringbusiness hours. The clinic began emergencyservices years ago and became certified by theAmerican Animal Hospital Association in 2005.In fact, it is ranked in the top 12 percent ofanimal hospitals by the American AnimalHospital Association.Dr. Todd Sullivan has a special niche inclinical pathology, serving the clinic with hison-sight pathology services. The clinic has astate-of-the-art ultrasound system, which aidsDr. Sullivan in his pathology research. Dr. Sullivanearned the title as Mississippi Young Veterinarianof the Year back in 2016. Dr. Sowell also earnedthis title the following year.Dr. Todd Sullivan cared for animals throughouthis childhood and upbringing. “I have hadanimals my entire life,” he explained. He grewup on a farm where he learned how to carefor cattle. He attended and participated in manycattle shows. In fact, he met the previousowners, the Andersons, at a cattle show.“They brought me into the field of veterinarymedicine,” he added.Dr. Todd Sullivan also has a love for dogs.This love grew during his upbringing on a farm.“I love dogs. Growing up, I always had a dog,”he explained. “They were consistent companionsaround the house and the farm. They areso happy to see you all of the time.” Because ofhis understanding of the significance of thehuman-animal bond, he tries to implementsincere empathy in every pet owner and clientinteraction. “God called me to veterinary medicinefor this reason,” he explained.Sullivan emphasized the importance of theveterinarians’ role in the community. “Accordingto One Health, 90 percent of the diseases wesee in animals can be transferred to humans,”said Sullivan. These diseases include intestinalparasites, rabies, cat scratch disease, and possiblyeven COVID-19. Dr. Sullivan believes it is theveterinarian’s job to protect the communityfrom these transmittable diseases. CrossgatesVeterinary Clinic does this by providing education,proper treatment, and vaccinations fortheir clients and patients. In addition to diseaseprotection and prevention, Dr. Sullivan believesa veterinarian’s role is to protect food supplyand observe the trends in animal population.The hardest part of being a veterinarian isseeing an animal suffering, firsthand. Dr. Sullivaninsists that euthanasia is one of the mostchallenging procedures in the field, especiallywhen he sees it day after day. “We usually carefor these animals their whole lives,” he said.“The dog becomes a part of our own family.”Finding the balance between exhibitingempathy for a sick pet and showing genuinehappiness for a healthy one is another challengefor Dr. Sullivan. “I may have a euthanasiaappointment at 2:30 p.m. and an appointmentfor a new puppy at 3:00 p.m.,” he said. “It is hardto try to be there for the suffering patient andalso be excited for the new patient within thesame hour.” Dr. Sullivan explained he wouldmuch rather implement more care on the preventativeside rather than undergo the euthanasiaprocess with a client. “I love to educate clientsabout anything and everything,” he said. “I enjoythe relationship I get to make with those people.”The most rewarding part of Dr. Sullivan’s jobis returning a pet from being terminally ill tohealth. “We will have a bad dental illness caseand perform surgery, then the pet owner is callingus saying, ‘Fluffy is playing with a ball he has notplayed with in years!’ That is the most rewardingphone call,” explained Sullivan.In addition to the vast amount of servicesthe clinic provides to its clients, CrossgatesVeterinary Clinic also has a full-service boardingfacility. The staff is dedicated to providing qualitycare to its pet residents. In fact, Dr. Todd Sullivanstayed overnight for an entire week in the facilityduring the ice storm in order to continue toprovide care to their boarded pets. “Someonehas got to make sure the animals are takencare of,” he said.Crossgates Veterinary Clinic’s dedication tothe health of animals is shown in so many ways.One of these ways is their mobile vet option.The clinic owns a mobile truck used to provideservices to animals around Rankin County andat their own home. “We have a 24-foot mobileveterinary truck,” explained Dr. Sullivan. “It isbasically a surgical unit on wheels.” The veterinarianshave the same capabilities to care forpets in the mobile truck as they do in the clinic.A few of these services include lab, surgery,ultrasound, in-home euthanasia, and normalpreventative care.Dr. Sullivan also uses this truck to care forpets in Mendenhall, where there is no access toa clinic. “I visit Mendenhall to care for animalsevery Thursday,” he said. “I’m from Mendenhall,so the community is dear to my heart.”COVID-19 impacted businesses across thecounty, and Crossgates Veterinary Clinic is noexception. However, the clinic has introducedmany protocols in order to overcome the challengesof the pandemic and continue to carefor pets. For example, the clinic has a telemedicineservice it uses to provide quality pet careto clients. “We offer TeleVet, which is an appour clients can use to schedule appointmentsand attend them virtually,” said Sullivan. Themobile vet truck also played a significant role incaring for pets during the pandemic, making itpossible to visit the homes of the elderly.Hometown RANKIN • 55
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