For the past four decades, West Point veterinarian LeAnn Simpson has treated all sorts of animals. While she hasn’t treated a lot of birds, she’s been known to ruffle a few feathers over the years.

At both the West Point Animal Clinic and the West Point Clay County Animal Shelter, Simpson has spent her long career putting animals first.

“Everything else comes after that,” said her eldest son, Randy. “She’s been like that as long as I can remember.”

Simpson makes no apologies.

“I never understood some of the fees for a lot of the services, so I hate dealing with those charges,” Simpson said. “I always wanted to help the animals as best I could so I charge less a lot of times, which probably makes some of the other veterinarians mad at me. That’s OK, too.”

If there is any resentment toward Simpson, it stops abruptly at the animal shelter. She began volunteering her services to the shelter when it opened in 2010, then became the facility’s full-time veterinarian in 2017.

“She’s very straightforward and dry,” said shelter director Neely Bryan. “She’s not all warm and syrupy all the time, but the things she does for animals you can’t argue with. Shelter medicine can be a beast. Taking care of 200 animals at times can be very difficult. You’re putting out a lot of fires. But it never seems to faze LeAnn. She’s been a rock star around here.”

Helping animals recover their health was Simpson’s obsession. Now, it’s her own health that commands her attention and has halted her work as a vet, temporarily she hopes.

“I’ve been in and out of the hospital since October,” said Simpson, who suffers from a debilitating blood disorder. As is her custom, Simpson had little to say beyond that. Simpson is currently being treated at North Mississippi Medical Center in West Point, but expects to be transferred to Jackson to undergo a new treatment she hopes will begin her recovery.

“She’s not doing well medically,” Randy said. “It’s been a financial strain, too, and being in the hospital all the time is something that’s hard on anybody. But I think what bothers her the most is that she can’t treat animals.”

That’s been a lifelong passion for Simpson.

“I don’t know if I ever just one day decided I wanted to be a veterinarian,” Simpson said. “I’ve just loved animals and wanted to care for them all my life. So becoming a veterinarian just seemed natural to me.”

Simpson graduated from the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1985 and practiced for a short time in Mobile before returning to West Point to be near her family.

She said working as a vet in a small town means treating a wide assortment of animals. Over the years, she’s treated all sorts of animals, but she learned to draw the line at snakes.

“I don’t do snakes,” she said. “A man brought one into the animal clinic one time. It had a scale stuck in his eyes, probably from molting. I thought, ‘How am I going to keep his mouth shut while I try to remove that scale?’ So I told the owner, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to put that snake on the table and put your finger on his nose so he can move and if you let go, I’m going to kick you.’ I got the scale out of the snake’s eye and didn’t get bit, but I’ve drawn the line at treating snakes ever since.”

Randy said his mom took her work home with her.

“My younger brother, Bruce, and I were always around animals growing up,” Randy said. “We had our own pets, but people would drop off strays, too, because they knew mom was going to take care of them. We would also drive around with her putting out food for feral cats all over the county, then she would put out traps, (spay/neuter) them and find them homes.”

Randy said one of the things that impressed him most about his mom was her compassion.

“People sometimes brought their pet to her and realized they couldn’t afford the treatment,” Randy said. “I never saw her turn somebody away, though. She would always work out some kind of arrangement. She just couldn’t let an animal suffer if she could help it. Her heart is always with the animals.”

Simpson, 62, said she’s not sure what to expect as doctors seek an effective treatment or how long it will take to get back to something resembling a normal life.

“I can get Social Security now, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to work full time,” she said. “I just hope I can get well enough to help people in West Point who can’t afford some of the treatments their animals need. That’s really my biggest goal.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].