Dr. Harrison’s Contributions To Avian Medicine

Linda Harrison, President and Editor

An international veterinary conference for veterinary students and veterinarians, to learn about the care, medical and surgical advancements for avian and exotic species.

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Greg and Linda Harrison have been professional and life partners, practically since their first date at Iowa State University in December, 1961.

Greg received his DVM degree from ISU in 1967, and the two of them moved to Florida, where he established his own small animal practice with Linda initially serving as receptionist, kennel person and surgical assistant.

In the mid-70’s, Greg established the first exclusive pet avian practice in the country, and they began breeding and raising parrot species (they had 200 pairs of psittacines at one time). After consulting with successful aviculturists and avian nutritionists, a line of organic formulated diets (Harrison’s Bird Foods) was developed.

In 1980, a group of avian practitioners decided to create the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), and Greg was invited to serve as the first President, which he did from 1980-1982. Linda supported the organization for 13 years as the communicator — editing and publishing the AAV Newsletter, the first AAV clinical journal, the annual conference proceedings and other publications.

Together they co-edited Clinical Avian Medicine and Surgery, the first avian veterinary textbook published by WB Saunders in 1986 as well as Avian Medicine: Principles and Application, published by Winger’s Publishing in 1994. Later he co-edited an additional textbook: Clinical Avian Medicine Volumes I and II (Spix Publishing, 2006).

Linda founded Zoological Education Network in 1998, which produced the annual International Conference on Exotics (ICE) for 9 years and the bi-monthly full-color Exotic DVM Veterinary Magazine for 13 years, as well other professional and client-oriented publications.

Retired from practice since 2005, Greg is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Retired) and Dip Emeritus of the European Board of Zoo Medicine. In his retirement he enjoys traveling, bird watching and the beach.