Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Sachar.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Most people call me Dr. Rachael. I’m happily divorced with no children, and single-handedly own and operate an ambulatory veterinary practice out of my home in Sand Canyon (Santa Clarita) that services the needs of equine, livestock, and exotic animals in the greater Los Angeles County and beyond. I travel far and wide to private residences, ranches, barns, and animal sanctuaries, and compounds offering the latest and greatest in diagnostics, preventative and emergency medical care, regenerative medicine, reproduction, dentistry, etc. In addition to my veterinary license, I am USDA-accredited and nationally certified in veterinary acupuncture. I’ve gotten a reputation for being the doctor to call for the more difficult and challenging cases, patients, movie animals, and exotic critters. No case is too big or too small. I often work alone (as a one-woman show), but I also have a stellar board-certified surgeon that I love to work with (Dr. Stephen Klause) and a team of experts and specialists I collaborate and work with to get some of the more complicated and challenging cases done in the most efficient and professional manner.
I am a strong advocate for education, and as such I also serve as a clinical preceptor for 3rd and 4th year veterinary students at Western University of Health Sciences. I am committed to my community and work under contract with the LA County Animal Care and Control and Fire Department for large animal abuse cases and rescues. I am passionate about my job and love working with animals and the people who love them. People often surprised to see the many pictures of me enjoying and working with bears, tigers, lions, wolves, zebras, giraffes, and so many other amazing critters. I work hard and play hard, leading a very active, sober lifestyle. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, traveling, scuba-diving, horseback riding, backpacking, snowboarding, snowmobiles, airplanes and helicopters, fishing, off-roading, hunting, and wildlife conservation.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I didn’t start my journey to become a veterinarian until I was 22 years old and I didn’t have an educational or vocational background to support it. In retrospect, I realize I was a very difficult child, teenager, and young adult. I left regular high school after a tumultuous freshman year and was an exchange student to Norway when I was 15 years old. My time abroad was challenging, and even though I was in school, none of my credits were accepted, so I was held back in school. I ended up in an independent study high school program and had to teach myself everything, and I wasn’t a very good teacher. I never took the SAT exams, went to prom, or walked in a high school graduation. I started working small jobs in high school and was quickly lured into the entertainment industry where I became a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and spent many years working odd jobs as an actress, model, extra, stunt person, production assistant, director’s assistant, etc. I would take classes at the local junior college and then end up withdrawing, getting poor grades, or dropping out when I’d lose focus or get hired on a job. I experienced eating disorders, learning disabilities, depression, the casting couch, and even being drugged and raped. I had occasional suicidal thoughts and binges of substance and alcohol abuse. The few psychiatrists and psychologists I saw gave me various labels and tried putting me on all kinds of medications. I was even brought into a psychology class at UCLA for the students to study. I was living life in the fast lane, working multiple jobs to make ends meet, taking acting and writing classes at UCLA extension and the American Film Institute, going on auditions daily and hoping for my big break.
Ultimately, I fell in love with an actor I met on set and married him. His family was very prestigious, a little pretentious, and was very concerned with my lack of education, semi-checkered past, and rather unpredictable future. My father-in-law sat me down and asked me point blank: “You don’t think you’re going to get by on your good looks forever, do you? What do you plan on doing to help support your family?” I was stunned, ashamed, and wanted their approval. I promised him I would go back to school, get an education, and have a professional career. He asked me: “When?” I made up a date, and because I’m so incredibly stubborn, I stuck to it. I went back to the junior college and sat down with one of the career counselors. She looked at my jaded transcripts and back at me. She swallowed hard, put on a fake smile, and said, “I see you’re back….So, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I told her I was ready to buckle down and focus on school and that I wanted to be a veterinarian or a helicopter pilot. She burst into laughter and said, “Oh honey, we will find something you can do!” The odds were against me, but I was determined. I joined MESA and had tutors help me “learn how to learn”. I had to start from scratch and test into all my classes. I had to retake classes I’d failed. I also started working as a receptionist at a vet clinic and volunteered in the back of the clinic to get exposure to veterinary medicine. Ultimately, I graduated the junior college with honors and was accepted to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
At Cal Poly, I worked as a student manager at an on-campus vet clinic and achieved a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Animal Science/ Pre-Vet. I was then accepted to Western University College of Veterinary Medicine, where I earned my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM). I did multiple externships around the country at various equine veterinary hospitals and ultimately did an internship after graduation with a high-end equine sports performance medicine practice. I learned extensive knowledge about diagnosing and treating lameness in horses, but I was paid next to nothing, treated like a slave, called every sexist remark and derogatory label you can think of, and ultimately told I would never amount to anything as a vet and always need extensive help from others. From there, I spent the next two years working for another practice as an associate, where I didn’t get paid enough to cover my rent and student loans, and was given zero mentorship, and was tasked with every kind of horse and livestock medical problem and emergency that existed. I had to problem solve, in the field, by myself, in front of an audience of clients with expectations. There was no internet to look things up and no one to call for help. I brought books along. I was always honest with my clients about what I knew and what was new for me. It was hard, and I learned new lessons every day. I started consulting with veterinarians outside of my practice for advice on cases and on ways I could improve my skills. I took lots of continued education classes in specialty topics, and I rode along with many other veterinarians to keep learning and growing. My knowledge, my skillset, and my speed and stamina grew, but my paycheck did not, and my boss would not give me a raise. My husband and I went our separate ways, got a divorce, and I was left with our combined debt in addition to my student loan debt and a condo lease I couldn’t afford. I gave notice to my practice and moved into the attic at my parent’s house and to start my own ambulatory practice without a penny to my name and more debt than I’d ever had in my life.
From here, I went into deeper depth — leasing to own used equipment, a vehicle, a vet pack, and all the drugs I needed for use in the field or to sell. I had to get a DEA license, a DBA license, a premise permit, and all kinds of other expenses I’d never thought of in order to have my own practice. Little by little, I grew my practice. After three months, I moved out of my parent’s attic and moved into a nice apartment above a barn. I lived there for another couple of years as my practice continued to grow and flourish, my skillset advanced, and I kept chipping away at my dept to dig myself out of the hole I was buried in. I dated on and off, but I worked too much and couldn’t find anyone who could handle my 24/7 work schedule and the stress I carried with it. Then tragedy struck. My best friend, Jamie, died. She passed out and drowned in a jacuzzi right next to me after we had been drinking too much on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I tried to save her. I did CPR, I screamed for help. But it was too late. My world stopped. I blamed myself for her death and had tremendous survivor’s guilt. I went into a deep depression and felt very suicidal. I didn’t know what to do, so I would work excessively, non-stop on to tune out the pain, and then I would run away, get out of town, get out of the country, drink excessively, and try everything and anything I was scared of doing. So I jumped out of airplanes, swam with sharks, flew helicopters, climbed the face of mountains, hunted wild aggressive boars, and so much more….. I was running myself into the ground, working too hard, playing too hard, and drinking too much.
Then I got a DUI, and everything stopped again. I lost my license, had to pay huge fines and go to classes and meetings every week, and hire a full-time driver. so I could keep working. I had to contact the state veterinary board and the DEA and plead my case. I saw the condescending counselor from the junior college in one of my meetings because she had also gotten a DUI. She was angry and didn’t think she deserved the punishment. I remembered looking up to her, looking down on me, and now here we were in the gutter, face to face, as equals. Only I wasn’t angry anymore, and I wasn’t fighting my punishment. I listened, and I learned about myself and about other people and their stories of how they had ended up in the same rotten situation. I decided I was going to change. I realized all the negative things in my life were somehow tied to alcohol and losing control, so I quit. And I’ve never had another drink. I am always happy to be the designated driver, and I will always stay with anyone who is wasted to make sure they aren’t taken advantage of or have an accident or tragedy. I have now been sober for over nine years and counting. And because of my experience, I have also overcome many of my fears, and I have become empowered. I continue to travel the world, jump out of airplanes, climb the highest mountains, dive with sharks, fly helicopters, and tackle anything and everything that comes my way. I have also paid off all my student and equipment loans, I’ve purchased a beautiful ranch in Sand Canyon, and I am debt free and living life to the fullest (but still working my ass off, lol).
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about twin Oaks Equine Veterinary Services?
When I started my business in 2012, I primarily was focused on seeing horses. Over time, my business evolved and my skillset grew to see other types of animals, such as livestock and companion animals. I was handy with a dart gun and able to employ it in order to tranquilize wild and unruly horses and livestock when wranglers and chutes were unavailable. So one day, I was called by a frantic producer who had heard about me from the county shelter. He said he needed a veterinarian with a loaded dart gun immediately on a location within the national forest in order for their commercial production to continue and said he would pay me anything in order to have me come.
Evidently, the forestry service wouldn’t allow the animal trainers to take out the grizzly bears that were slated to be in this commercial without there being a veterinarian present with a loaded dart gun. I was paid well for my time and expertise, and I got to know the animal trainers and owners of the bears. I already understood the entertainment industry, shooting schedules, and how production works, so it was all very easy for me. I kept learning and making more phone calls, and pretty soon, I was doing more and more work with all kinds of exotics. My mobile diagnostic equipment, skillset, adaptability, and willingness to learn and collaborate with others made the transition to working with exotics easier than I had imagined. Word of mouth got out, and pretty soon more and more animal trainers and movie animal companies, private collectors, and animal sanctuaries were calling me to work on their exotic animals.
I work closely with a board-certified surgeon from the LA Zoo for most of my big knockdown cases with dangerous predators where anesthesia and surgery are necessary, and I employ a whole team of experts in big cases that require specialists. To be more representative of my caseload, I have recently changed my business name to Twin Oaks Equine & Exotic Veterinary Services. My business, skillset, and the services I provide my clients continue to grow. In addition to my business, I also serve as a clinical preceptor for 3rd and 4th year veterinary students where I really enjoy providing them with the opportunities and support needed to learn new skills and work with a variety of species.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My family helped me get to where I am today. Without their love and support, I don’t think I would have made it……my mom (Susan Ostrom), my dad (Dennis Ostrom), and my sister (Skye Ostrom) are everything to me. They have always been there for me, even when times were rough.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: twinoaksdvm
- Facebook: Rachael Dawn Ostrom Sachar
