ROSEBURG — After traveling the backgrounds of Douglas County for the past 48 years to provide care for all sorts of livestock, veterinarian Scott Hendy sold his practice and retired Sept. 1.

He is now transitioning to giving his own ranch and its 100 mother cow herd his full-time attention. That includes fixing fences and irrigating pasture ground, allowing for rotational grazing.

He said there would also be more time to spend with his wife of 50 years, Sandy, and their three grandchildren and to fish.

‘Mixed emotions’

“I have mixed emotions,” Hendy, 72, said of his retirement. “I’ll miss all the old-time people, working with the down-to-earth families. When you get done working the cattle, they invite you in to have lunch with them or when you get there in the morning, they have coffee and doughnuts.

“There’s always a few clients you want to avoid,” he added with a laugh. “But the vast majority are the best people to work with. I’ll still have relationships with a lot of them, including dinners and fishing trips.”

Hendy graduated from the University of California-Davis, in 1975. During his senior year, veterinarian Don Bailey of Roseburg spoke to one of Hendy’s classes. Bailey invited Hendy to drop by Roseburg if in the area. Hendy traveled north after his graduation, talked to Bailey and was offered a job at Bailey’s Veterinary Clinic.

Opens clinic

Three years later, Hendy opened his own clinic, Parkway Animal Hospital, in Roseburg. Unlike many veterinarians who prefer to work only on small animals (dogs and cats), Hendy was attracted to the larger livestock animals. He had grown up in Southern California riding and showing horses. He did a summer internship at Susanville, Calif., veterinary practice and was able to work on a variety of large animals.

In 1977, his parents, Stan and Gert Hendy, purchased a ranch east of Roseburg and ran cattle and sheep.

Their vet was their son, Scott Hendy, who eventually worked on many other ranches and farms in the county.

“I could get lost in downtown Roseburg, but I know the country roads pretty well,” Hendy said.

‘A regular guy’

Hendy has worked with Darryl Ray’s cattle and sheep for all of his 48-year career.

“Scott works around the cattle really well,” Ray said. “He’s a regular guy, he’s Scott, not Dr. Hendy. I trust his judgment. He’s helped us a lot over the years.

“There’s not many large animal vets in the county,” Ray added. “Scott was probably taking care of a pretty high percentage of those animals.”

Hendy has been caring for Diane Swingley’s registered black Angus herd for 30 years.

“He’s provided advice and concern,” Swingley said of the vet. “There’s been an exchange of ideas through the years with Scott. He shares information he gathers from going to all the other ranches, things that will work for us. He’s provided science for nutrition and herd health. I trust him totally with the animals.”

Hendy has been a member of Oregon Veterinary Medical Association since 1975 and was the president in 1988. Since 1990, he’s been a member of the Wildlife Safari Foundation and board, and a consulting veterinarian for the wild animal drive-through park in Winston, Ore. He’s been a long-time member and past president of the Douglas County Livestock Association and was a founding member of Saving Grace Adoption Center for animals.

In 1991, Hendy started and coordinated a group of volunteers who work with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to stock by horseback over 10,000 fingerling trout annually in 11 to 13 high mountain lakes in Douglas County.