Trailblazing Veterinarian Cares for Exotic Cats
(This story first appeared in the Spring 1999 issue of Allegheny magazine.)
"Old veterinarians never retire, they just keep working," says Dr. June D. Iben, who recently took up residence at the Western Pennsylvania National Wild Animal Orphanage near Uniontown. At the orphanage, she helps care for exotic cats, including several lions, tigers and cougars. All of these animals were rescued from owners who couldn't care for them, and the animals would have been destroyed. She also works part time at a nearby animal clinic, the Camelot Veterinary Hospital.
When Iben graduated from Allegheny in 1949 as biology major, she wanted to become a veterinarian, but this was a radical career goal for women at the time. Her father forbade her to go to veterinary school. Fortunately, some of her professors encouraged her to pursue whatever field she wanted. However, she says, "back in the dark ages, in the late '40s and early '50s, they were just not accepting women into veterinary school. So I went to get my master's at the University of Kentucky in bacteriology. I helped do some of the first blood typing work done on thoroughbred horses."
A professor at Kentucky was so impressed with Iben that he wrote a recommendation letter that helped her gain admission to Oklahoma State University's veterinary school. Iben was the first woman to graduate from Oklahoma State in the field of veterinary medicine. She credits this achievement to those who helped her, explaining, "There is no self-made person; you owe your success to all those who helped and guided you."
Because of her research experience in graduate school, Iben initially went into research and teaching. She soon moved to private practice, however, and after six years she established her own practice at the Mosside Animal Clinic in Monroeville and spent 35 years there. Iben was included in the first edition of Who's Who in Women in America, and she has also been included in Who's Who in Veterinary Science and Medicine and Who's Who in the East.
Soon after beginning her own practice, Iben adopted a crippled lion cub, destined to be destroyed, from a local zoo. She discovered that the cub was suffering from a calcium deficiency and changed its diet and placed braces on its legs to give it a better standing stance. The cub, named Cathy, was soon well enough to romp around Iben's yard with her pet poodle.
Iben was hooked, and she has been working with wild animals ever since. She believes that only trained and dedicated professionals can provide a safe environment for wild animals. "It takes patience, respect, dedication and courage to care for big cats," she said. "Taking care of wild animals is not something to do without experience and training. It's not for just anyone. You are responsible forever for those you have tamed."
To properly care for Cathy and other big cats, she took special courses in caring for exotic animals. Since then, she has taken care of lions, ocelots, leopards, bobcats, South American margays and other exotic cats. Many of her big cats have lived in her house. She now has two sloughis, a breed of Arabian sight-hounds, and a cougar named Munchkin in her home. The view from her window includes a habitat for lions, tigers, cougars and other big cats. She says, "I go to sleep at night listening to the purring of a cougar and the roar of lions."
- Edye Olalia '99
