Lake Chatuge Animal Hospital, Inc. is owned and operated by Dr. Hilty Burr. This full service small animal hospital is located at 1619 State Highway 17N in Young Harris (zip code 30582), which is on highway 17 near where it intersects with 76. This location was carefully chosen because it is conveniently accessible to pet owners in Young Harris, Hiawassee, Hayesville, Blairsville, Murphy and surrounding communities. The hospital opened March 1, 2005. Dr. Burr has had a long and interesting career in veterinary medicine. He is a 1980 graduate of The College of Veterinary Medicine at The University of Tennessee. He started his clinical practice career in Pell City, Alabama at Cropwell Animal Hospital as an associate veterinarian for small and large animals. Early in 1981, Dr. Burr moved to Cleveland, Tennessee to open his own practice. Burr Veterinary Clinic was also a mixed animal practice. In 1990, he sold his interest in this practice and began consultant work for the animal health industry. In 1992, Dr. Burr joined Pfizer Animal Health where he continued his consulting work as a technical services veterinarian with a concentration mostly in canine and feline medicine and surgery. He enjoyed an exceptionally successful career and received several promotions with his last position being the Director of US Veterinary Services for the Companion Animal Division. As a leading consultant for the largest animal health company in the world, Dr. Burr was recognized as an expert in companion animal medicine. However, his contact with animals and pet owners had been restricted to clinical trial work and case consultations. Dr. Burr began to greatly miss the day to day contact with people and their pets. After a thorough search that included most of the southeast US, Dr. Burr and his wife (Susan) decided that the Young Harris / Hayesville / Hiawassee area was a perfect location to build a new state of the art small animal hospital. They had already decided that they would retire to the area at the appropriate time because of its incredible beauty and convenient location near family and friends. When the decision was made to return to practice it seemed only natural to make the move happen sooner rather than later.
Hospital Staff:
Susan Burr, Owner, Hospital Administrator
Lisa Perry, Office Manager
Justin Lee, Managing Veterinary Assistant Pam Cowperthwaite, Veterinary Assistant
Robert Calhoun, Veterinary Assistant
Beth Culbertson, Veterinary Assistant
Corey Audirsch, Veterinary Assistant and Maintenance Repairs
Kiedren Mulcahy, Kennel Assistant
Angela Sears, Veterinary Assistant Laura Wilson, Receptionist
Linda Cobourn, Receptionist
Carol Gay, Receptionist
Heather Rothbarth, Receptionist
Staff biosketches:
Susan Burr is married to Dr. Burr and is the mother of their 2 grown children, Jon Jr. and Jessica Rose; 2 cats, Fuzzy and Tango; and 4 dogs, Opie, Blitzen, Gracie, and Brody. They are all the joy of her life. The Burr's are originally from Birmingham, Al. and have lived in several places, but now think they have found the very best place to be. Susan says they love it here and love the people they serve. In her spare time she enjoys boating, reading, gardening, and going for long walks with the 4-legged kids and her husband.
Lisa Perry moved to Blairsville with her fiance from St. Petersburg in 11/05. She has worked in the medical field for over 13 years and is a certified medical coder and pursuing certification in medical transcription. Lisa has 2 wonderful dogs named Zelda and Tala.
Justin Lee is a local boy and has been with LCAH since we opened in 3/05. Justin has been involved with animals his entire life as a volunteer and rescuing and nursing wildlife and domestic animals. Justin's wife is Nicole and they have a 2 year old daughter and are expecting another visit by the stork. The Lee family has 2 dogs, a Siberian Huskie named Nanook and a rescue dog named Shia. They also have 2 cats. Shia is 7 years old and they recently adopted an 8 week old kitten from the Whisker's Project.
Pam Cowperthwaite recently moved here from Florida with her 15 year old daughter named Jordyn and 12 year old son named Jacob. She has been working in animal hospitals for approximately 20 years. They have 3 cats, 2 Cockateils and a Quaker Parrot.
Robert Calhoun was raised in Atlanta but has been coming to Hiawassee area since he was a lad with his parents. Robert and his wife moved permanently here in '87 when he finished his duty with the Navy. He and his wife are avid animal lovers and they currently have 5 dogs and a snake that were all rescued. Appropriately, the name Calhoun is Scottish and translates to "keeper of the dogs."
Beth Culbertson was born in Rhode Island and has been married to her husband Ted for 16 years. They moved to the mountains and have resided in Murphy since 2003. Beth has had many interesting life experiences including a stint as a professional clown. She gained invaluable experience in animal health by doing volunteer work with animal shelter organizations, and has demonstrated natural skills and talents in her position as veterinary assistant at LCAH. Beth and Ted have a family of 2 dogs and a cat; and she enjoys reading, cooking and remodeling their home.
Laura Wilson has worked in the veterinary field as a receptionist since 1986. She and her husband Matt who also works at LCAH as a computer consultant moved to Murphy NC from Sarasota FL about 2 years ago. Laura has 3 children and a variety of animals including 5 dogs and 3 cats. They also have a bird, duck, pot-belly pig and a horse.
Linda Coburn and her husband moved to western NC from Ohio about 1 year ago. They have lived most of their lives in Ohio except for 9 years in Florida. In Ohio, they maintained a farm that included 22 pets: miniature donkeys and horses, English Setter Spaniels and a miniature cow. They still have 2 Spaniels, 2 cats, and 2 gaited horses for trail riding.
Carol Gay moved to Blairsville with her husband Barry and son Tanner seven years ago from south GA after several visits to the area and falling in love with the mountains and climate. She is one of LCAH original employees. Her family also includes an Arabian horse, donkey, Black Lab and Persian cat. In the Gay household, the animals "rule". Carol is also a talented watercolor artist specializing in wildlife art and pet portraits. Several portraits are exhibited at the animal hospital.
Kiedren Mulcahy is a native Floridian who has lived in Houston, San Diego, and Denver. She left the city life to join her family who haved lived in Hiawassee since the 1970s. While in Denver, she attended Metropolitan State College and worked in the restaurant business and developed a reputation for her skills in culinary arts. Her love of animals drew her to LCAH so she could pursue a life long dream of working closely with them. She has worked at Humane Society Mountain Shelter as an animal caregiver, where she adopted an adorable singing Miniature Schnauzer named "Rebeka".
Angela Sears recently moved to Murphy from Florida with her husband Stephen. They have 2 dogs, Trinity, a Great Dane mix and Brutus, an English Bulldog. They also have a 21 year old Quarter Horse named Cutter, an African Grey parrot named Jueno and 11 various species of reptiles. Angela has a career diploma as a Veterinary Assistant. She has also been a Sergeant in the US Army Reserve for the past 8 years. On her spare time she enjoys horseback riding and going to the gym.
Heather Rothbarth moved to Young Harris from south Florida with her husband Chad and daughter Sierra. They have 2 dogs, Gaberial, a Boxer mix and Angel, a Jack Russell mix. Heather is a Certified Nursing Assistant and is currently working towards her Tax Preparer Certification. In her spare time she enjoys shopping and spending time with her family.
Surgical Specialists / Consultant: Dr. Tim Crowe (see Dr Crowe bio on "what we do" page) * *
**Dr. Crowe is an independent veterinary surgery specialist and consultant and is not a full time employee of LCAH.
