Our Veterinarians
Meet the folks who make it all happen. We see big potential in every moment, & care deeply about what we do every day.
Dr. Robert Baker
DVM, DACLAM
Dr. Baker was born in a “Navy Family”, and lived in six states before his father retired from the Navy and settled in Louisville, Kentucky. He started working for a vet when he was 13 and has now been involved with Veterinary Medicine for more than 50 years. Dr. Bob has had an unusual career, to say the least. He started working in the Carolina’s for two veterinarians that were outstanding practitioners. Dr. Walter Robinson in Greenville, South Carolina was a renowned surgeon and board certified in veterinary practice. Dr. David Harling in Greensboro, North Carolina was double boarded in Veterinary Ophthalmology and Veterinary practice. Having two tremendous mentors, Dr. Baker has always strived to practice the way he learned his first three years out of Veterinary school.
Trussville Animal Hospital was the first small animal practice in Trussville, AL and Dr. Baker’s first experience in practice ownership. After 15 years, though, he was recruited by the University of Alabama at Birmingham to join their laboratory animal program as a Clinical Veterinarian and head of Experimental Surgery. This led to jobs at two of the National Primate Research Centers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Baker became a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine in 2011.
After 15 years in Biomedical Research, including 10 years as a “monkey doctor”, Dr. Bob and his wife Sheila relocated to Fort Payne, AL thinking they would semi-retire. While working as a relief Veterinarian at several local practices, he realized that starting his second practice would allow him more control over the quality of medicine he could practice.
Dr. Baker has also enjoyed living an adventurous life. He started rock climbing in college and has climbed “The Diamond”, the 2000-foot East Face of Long’s Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park as well as the 2000-foot Northwest Face of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. He has also been a checkpoint veterinarian six times for the Alaskan Sled Dog Race, the Iditarod, and worked in a medical mission in Ecuador as an assistant surgeon operating on children with clubfoot disorders as well as other congenital problems.
Dr. Bob enjoys most aspects of veterinary medicine, but especially enjoys challenging surgeries and teaching clients how to better take care of their animals. He and his wife Sheila live with four dogs, two cats, and three nanny goats on the brow of Lookout Mountain. After traveling most of his life, Dr. Baker likes to say that his next mover will be an undertaker!
Dr. Roy Smith
DVM, MRCVS
Dr. Roy C. Smith III was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in Alabaster and Valley Head. He earned degrees in biology from the University of Alabama and animal sciences and business from Auburn University before pursuing veterinary education at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine in Scotland. He is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Dr. Smith lives and works on his family’s farm in Valley Head, where he enjoys caring for his cattle. He has a special interest in large animal medicine, particularly bovine medicine, and values the hands-on experience that farm life provides.