Rememberance
Dr. Charles A. Westfield, III MS, DVM
1954 - 2022
Dr. Chuck Westfield earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s degree in Physiology from Purdue University. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree Cum Laude from the University of Missouri in 1985. After graduation, Dr. Westfield completed a rotating internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the world-renowned Animal Medical Center in New York City. Each year, only twenty new veterinarians nationwide are selected to join the AMC’s staff and be trained by top veterinary specialists. Dr. Westfield practiced in New York City for ten years at Yorkville Animal Hospital and the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital of the ASPCA where he was a senior staff clinician.
Dr. Westfield was one of the Tri-State area’s most experienced veterinarians with Bulldogs and trained his staff extensively on safe anesthetic techniques for Bulldogs and the other brachycephalic breeds. The Westfield family was well known in the dog show world with their top winning Bulldogs. Dr. Westfield’s father, Charles A. Westfield, Jr., was a leading Bulldog breeder, owner-handler, and respected A.K.C. dog show judge. As a teenager, Dr. Westfield was a top junior handler, winning numerous junior competitions at major dog shows and twice a third-place finalist in the Westminster Kennel Club’s Junior Showmanship Competition. He is in the Junior Showmanship Hall of Fame.
Bulldog breeding and show experience led to his interests in reproductive medicine and specialized Bulldog surgeries including laser surgery for “cherry” eyes, soft palate, stenotic nares correction, and entropion eyelid problems. He performed countless caesarean section surgeries for many breeds, especially brachycephalic breeds including Bulldogs. His other practice emphasis included sheep and goat medicine.
He worked at various veterinary practices in New York and New Jersey until becoming the owner of Hunterdon Hills Animal Hospital in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. He built a new building for the practice, of which he was very proud. He loved being a veterinarian and treating dogs, cats, sheep, goats, pigs and the occasional rabbit. He would come home in the evenings and share stories of challenging surgeries and tricky diagnoses with his family.
