Articles

Category About Dr. Don J. Harris   Show all

• About Don J. Harris, DVM

  Share About Don J. Harris, DVM on Facebook Share About Don J. Harris, DVM on X (formerly Twitter) Share About Don J. Harris, DVM on Linkedin Email About Don J. Harris, DVM link

  Don J. Harris, DVM is widely recognized as one of the foremost avian specialists in the world.

  He arrived in South Florida in 1980 after graduating from Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, trading Louisiana swampland for urban Miami and bringing with him a deep fluency in wildlife and exotic animals that would define his career.

  For years he practiced mixed animal medicine, but exotic cases kept crowding out the dogs and cats. By 1990, he shifted to an exclusively avian and exotic practice. In 1996, he opened South Florida's first exotics-only veterinary hospital: Avian & Exotic Animal Medical Center.

  His ties to this community run back to those early years, when he served as the veterinarian for Parrot Jungle, the same property that would become Pinecrest Gardens, where he serves as veterinarian today.

  Harris has served as president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, president of the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association, and president of the North American Veterinary Conference, the largest veterinary gathering on the planet. He spent years as the lead national instructor for Karl Storz, the top manufacturer of endoscopic equipment in veterinary medicine, the same technique he applies in Pinecrest's peacock program. His work has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Animal Planet, and National Geographic.

  When Pinecrest needed someone with the expertise, the tools, and the judgment to build a program no other municipality had attempted, it turned to the doctor who has known these birds and this community for decades.

  Don J. Harris, DVM is widely recognized as one of the foremost avian specialists in the world.

  He arrived in South Florida in 1980 after graduating from Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, trading Louisiana swampland for urban Miami and bringing with him a deep fluency in wildlife and exotic animals that would define his career.

  For years he practiced mixed animal medicine, but exotic cases kept crowding out the dogs and cats. By 1990, he shifted to an exclusively avian and exotic practice. In 1996, he opened South Florida's first exotics-only veterinary hospital: Avian & Exotic Animal Medical Center.

  His ties to this community run back to those early years, when he served as the veterinarian for Parrot Jungle, the same property that would become Pinecrest Gardens, where he serves as veterinarian today.

  Harris has served as president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, president of the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association, and president of the North American Veterinary Conference, the largest veterinary gathering on the planet. He spent years as the lead national instructor for Karl Storz, the top manufacturer of endoscopic equipment in veterinary medicine, the same technique he applies in Pinecrest's peacock program. His work has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Animal Planet, and National Geographic.

  When Pinecrest needed someone with the expertise, the tools, and the judgment to build a program no other municipality had attempted, it turned to the doctor who has known these birds and this community for decades.