By Cory Olesen

Unlike most of her colleagues, Dr. Emi Kooyman didn’t dream of being a veterinarian when she grew up. A self-identified “late bloomer,” Kooyman discovered her passion for animals as an adult, when she adopted her first dog, a Samoyed named Stetson. “And from there it just grew. I started fostering, doing shelter transports— I was even on the board of the local Humane Society,” she explains.

So when her employer started looking to downsize during the financial crisis, Kooyman saw an opportunity to think about what she wanted the rest of her life to look like. And at 44, she took early retirement and enrolled in vet school at UGA.

“I didn’t expect to get in,” she confesses. “I wasn’t a very good student in undergrad, but when you’re passionate about something, it’s amazing what you can do.”

Kooyman graduated in 2016 and took a position at the Atlanta Humane Society. Then, in 2021, she opened her own practice, Spay Neuter Vets.

“There is so much demand for altering pets, but there’s a significant lack of skilled help,” Kooyman explains. “Low-cost clinics have waiting lists that are months-long, and general practitioners can only do so many surgeries between all their other services. High-volume spay/neuter was my main focus at AHS. Between that and my business background, I knew I could offer a vital service to the community,” Kooyman explains.

Four years later, the practice has grown to include two more vets and fixes around 5,000 animals a year.

As a specialized clinic, Kooyman is able to offer lower prices than general practices and shorter wait times than low-cost clinics, providing a comfortable middle ground for many pet owners. They also participate in several low-cost initiatives like SpayGeorgia and the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association’s Spay/Neuter Grant Program, in addition to providing bulk pricing to local rescues such as Mostly Mutts and Angels Among Us.

“I went into vet school, knowing that I wanted to do shelter and rescue work. Providing access to affordable spay/neuter services is a fundamental part of it,” Kooyman explains. “Altering pets is the most humane way to reduce overpopulation and keep animals out of shelters by promoting responsible breeding.”

But to make a bigger impact, Kooyman is going to need more help. That’s why she and the rest of her clinical team have now partnered with the United Spay Alliance, an organization dedicated to training existing veterinarians in high-volume sterilization methods.

“We’re teaching these techniques through hands-on training at places like LifeLine. The goal is to show them how to do these surgeries safely and more efficiently, so that ultimately, they can offer lower-cost services to the public as well.”

Emi’s Leading Locales

spayneutervets.com