Dr. Julie Butler
Shortly after graduating as the only African American in her class at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Butler took over the 145th Street Animal Hospital on April 1, 1989. Dr. Butler knew she wanted to be a vet since she was a little girl growing up in New Rochelle, and she wanted to serve her African American community. She mentored youth in the area who wanted to become veterinarians and co-founded a nonprofit, New York SAVE, to distribute small grants to help clients in need of care for their pets. She lived by the principle that “if you have it to give, you give.” She died at her home in Harlem from the coronavirus on April 4 at the age of 62.
