Dr. Angela Darby has taken a unique approach to pet services by delivering them directly to her client’s home with a full-service veterinary clinic operated solely out of a specialty vehicle she drives around New Iberia and surrounding cities in the Teche Area.

Darby, a New Iberia native, opened Magnolia Mobile Veterinary Clinic on Oct. 1 after working as a clinic doctor for more than 10 years. Darby also has done relief work.

“I decided that if I’m ever going into business for myself, it’s time to do it ’cause I’m 44,” Darby said. “It took courage … logistics. You have to be that all-encompassing business. It’s your baby.”

Darby said she was motivated to start the business because mobile vet clinics give people an opportunity to access animal care in a more comfortable way, especially for senior citizens.

“It gets more and more difficult for them to get out of their house, especially when carrying a nervous animal or potentially a big animal into a vet’s office,” she said.

Another group Darby said is at risk are large families. Having all pet needs done in-home helps families keep up with busy schedules, according to Darby, who has vet techs who assist her with animal care and daily business duties.

“I have clients that have 10 or more pets, so you can go and take care of those pets at one time,” said Darby, who graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University in 2000. “There’s a lot of moms with four kids and nowadays, that’s a big family. They’re so busy that it’s easy to just forget or neglect something you don’t intend to be neglected so having one more service that comes to your house and tends to you … it makes sense.”

Visiting between five to six homes a day, Darby said every day brings something different and she always learns new things.

“You think things are going to go this way and they turn out completely different,” she said softly. “It’s always different. We work by appointment to give ourselves enough room.”

Darby said she became a veterinarian for the animals, but also to be of service to her community and those who can’t make it to a traditional clinic.

“People think being a vet is all about the animal. It is, but those animals don’t come to us on their own,” she said, passionately. “They come with a person. You’re there for the person, too. It’s them that cares about that animal and the service you’re doing is something they want for that animal.”

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