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Dr. Sheryl Carls is no stranger to the local business community. She has been the owner of the Lexington Veterinary Clinic for nearly 22 years, and a frequent volunteer and donor to local causes.

Still, she was shocked to be named "Business Individual of the Year" by the Lexington-Rockbridge County Chamber of Commerce at the organization’s annual dinner dance in February.

"I was absolutely dumbfounded…I don’t know how to explain it," she said of winning what she calls "the elite award in Rockbridge County."

"It was kind of an empty feeling at first, because I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t know what to feel. I never dreamed I would be nominated, let alone win."

Her surprise might be due in part to her first impression of the local business community when she moved here from her stint at a clinic in Northern Maryland. She wasn’t sure she would make it.

"I was a female, an outsider, and a Northerner," Carls said. "When I got here, it felt closed, and I really worried it would be hard to fit in, and that my practice wouldn’t take off."

But Carls was wrong. Within three years, she says, she had tripled the clinic’s business. Its previous owner had been bringing in only about $70,000 a year. The old owner was on the verge of retiring and was concentrated more on seeking a replacement and less on building up his business, she said.

Now, two decades later, Carls, 49, is nearing retirement too. She’s working just three days a week at the clinic, while associate Dr. Martha Tubman is being groomed to take over. But that doesn’t mean Carls hasn’t been keeping busy.

She received the Chamber’s award for "her business leadership and success and her selfless volunteerism in this community and beyond," according to Doorways, one of the Chamber’s newsletters.

Her volunteer work includes serving on the Crime Line Board, and she gives talks to local schools and organizations. She works extensively with the SPCA, providing free pet care. In 1989, Carls become the first woman admitted to the Lexington Rotary Club.

"Dr. Carls gives a lot back," said Judy Repair, who has been the clinic’s business manager for the past 14 years. Repair said that in addition to her volunteer work and donations, Carls gives her time, expertise and items to numerous silent auctions in the community.

Carls’ volunteer work extends beyond the local area. Just one week after Hurricane Katrina hit in September 2005, Carls headed south to help animal search and rescue efforts, and to care for sick animals that had been displaced from their homes during the storm, she said. She worked in both Louisiana and New Orleans during her six-week stay.

But Carls said it’s her practice philosophy that sets her apart from other veterinarians. Many vets are uninterested in continuous care for an animal, focusing instead on the bare minimum of basic vaccines and pet care that bring home the paycheck.

"Following an animal throughout its life, from a puppy to keeping it healthy to the day we have to put it to sleep…that’s what I really like, that continuity."

While Carls does not have any children, she said that she has watched Tubman make sacrifices in order for her career to thrive. Finding someone with that take on veterinary medicine is difficult, she said.

"[The younger generations coming into the business now] don’t realize that they have to sacrifice family stuff and their 'my time'," Carls said. “It’s not just a job. It’s a career.”

She loves dealing with animals, but her job can be overwhelming. Carls says she works 10 to 12 hours a day sometimes, and has about 16 to 20 appointments daily. One Sunday when Carls was on call a few years ago, she had 14 emergencies, including a dog that had been hit by a train and another struck by a car.

Photo by KILTIE TOMPKINS

Carls' practice philosophy includes continuous care of her patients.

"The phone was ringing off the hook, and I was by myself," Carls said. "I will never forget that day."

Explaining a pet’s illness to each member of a family can also be a challenge, she said. While some pets are "members of the family," to some they are “just a dog” or "just a cat." Those two extremes wear her out.

"I’ll get a dog with a broken leg, and I know I can fix it. But they’ll say 'No, I’m going to take it home and shoot it,'" she said. "That’s hard."

But the clinic is not without its laughs. Carls recalled an old "redneck" who called into the clinic a few years ago about his cat, Snow White. He told Carls’ mother, her receptionist at the time, that he wanted the cat spayed, but that he suspected she might be pregnant.

"I want to get her spayed before the seven dwarfs show up," he told her. Carls says the clinic gets crazy calls like that on a regular basis.

"We’re truly like any hospital," she said. "You never know what’s going to happen until the day’s done."

Carls escapes the day-to-day craze with fishing, hunting, hiking, and her other passion: race car driving. Her husband, Woody Dykes, gave her a race car for her birthday a few years ago, which she drives on a track in Radford.

"I’ve always said that I would give up veterinary medicine to be a race car driver."

"I love helping educate people and helping to make their pets happy and healthy," she said. "Hopefully, I help make them a member of the family."