Veterinarian medicine has been a huge part of Dr. Andrew Bailey’s life for as long as he can remember. The Baileys have been treating animals in the area for 100 years.
His father, Dr. A.M. Bailey, Sr. was also a veterinarian in Winona and was one up until his death. At 89, Dr. Andrew Bailey is still taking care of animals at his veterinarian office, Pet Station, located at McCarley Junction on Highway 82.
Bailey said when he was old enough, he would help his father take care of animals. For him, it seemed he was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. While working with his father, he developed a love of caring for animals and learned things under his father – things he wouldn’t have otherwise learned in school. However, he still went and excelled, earning his doctorate from Auburn University.
Bailey said he attended six schools, but he doesn’t like bragging on himself. He’d much rather talk about pets, politics, or his father.
He said after he graduated from high school, he attended Mississippi State University to pursue a degree in Veterinarian Medicine. But, he only attended for a year. Bailey said he enlisted voluntarily in the service during World War II.
“They didn’t make us go. We went on our own,” Bailey said.
He said he wanted to defend his country in World War I and deemed it patriotic to do so.
“We’re a very patriotic people,” Bailey said.
He said his father and grandfather both served in the military.
While enlisted, Bailey said he was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and became a veterinarian tech.
Then he was sent to England. Bailey said while there, through the University of Cambridge, he was able to attend school, still keeping up with his studies during the war.
He attended the prestigious Christ College, the same college evolutionist Charles Darwin attended.
“But, you don’t wanna know about me,” Bailey said, waving off.
Bailey has a fascinating lineage, but he doesn’t like being facetious or braggadocios and doesn’t like talking about it or himself. He would much rather talk about the accomplishments of his dad.
Bailey’s father owned a radio station in Winona, was an alderman, and president of the Winona Chamber of Commerce. He said his family owned a big white house in Winona and were neighbors to Mr. Webster, who at the time ran Bank of Winona.
“The Depression took everything Daddy had,” Bailey said.
But, he said Mr. Webster was kind to his family and didn’t foreclose on their home and allowed his father to get back on his feet. His father lived to be 99 and died in 1993. Bailey still has the Winona Times with his father’s obit on the front page.
Although he doesn’t like talking about himself, Bailey is just as interesting. Bailey said he came back home to Winona after being away and began working with his father at his veterinarian office in Winona. He eventually sold that practice.
He said while working in Carroll County, two men Mr. Bloodworth and Mr. Mims, asked him if he’d thought about opening a practice in McCarley.
“I was in the snow, and they were all bundled up, and here I was in a t-shirt,” Bailey said, laughing.
He said when he told his wife he was getting back into practice, she told him no.
“She said, ‘Oh no, don’t you do that again,’” he said, laughing.
Bailey said Mr. Bloodworth and Mr. Sims gave him the land where Pet Station, his current office, is for free, and it was a deal that he couldn’t refuse.
He’s been in McCarley ever since. Bailey, is still serving the people of Carroll and Montgomery counties and the surrounding areas. In the middle of the interview, Bailey had a patient come in, and he stopped just to take care of his patient.
Although he has his health issues, he’s still attentive to the needs of his four-legged patients, and that is what keeps people coming back to Pet Station.
It’s what has kept people coming to the Baileys for over 100 years.
