FORESTVILLE – On the 11th stop of his Working and Listening Tour Friday afternoon, Rep. Tom Reed made a visit to the Forestville Animal Hospital.

Veterinary Physician J. Joseph Bache gave him a tour through the facility, told him what it is like to be a vet, and what inspired him to do so.

Forestville resident Darlene Deike brought her 6-year-old dog Lucy in to get her shots up to date.

“She is like one of the kids,” she said. “Lucy is part of our family. She was a stray we found, and she was severely beaten by her last owner. She is afraid of everything.”

Bache gave her a distemper booster and checked her ears. He called it a clean bill of health.

The 27 Main St. building was constructed in 1876 as a hardware store plus a variety of small stores.

“It was a hardware store again for 60 years before we owned it,” Bache said. “We gutted the place and started it up on Aug. 15, 2011. This is the first time I have opened up a hospital. I was a vet for 10 years in Dunkirk and Long Island. This building has been vacant a while and it was a good place.”

Bache performs house calls when the animals are too big or too sick to come in.

“The variety of reasons people bring in their pets is why I got into this business,” he said. “I am pushing for medical cases. This place is becoming like the place I worked at in Long Island.”

Reed’s attention was on the tiny kitten in the home-made incubator.

“Our cat Rhino made a blood donation to Simba today (Friday) a 6-week-old very sickly kitty,” Bache said. “A young girl found him today (Friday) and brought it in. We have him on oxygen right now.”

Reed wanted to know if the little guy was going to make it.

“At this point he survived the treatment and he is doing a good job,” Bache said. “Sometimes it puts too much stress on their bodies and they don’t make it. It shows how tough these animals are that they can handle such severe forms of disease.”

“I love animals. I have three dogs at home,” Reed said. “If you have a bad day spend a little time with a dog or a cat as a friend; something about it brings peace to you and a lot of happiness.”

This being part of his On The Job Series, Reed wants to keep it as diverse as possible.

“Here you have a local doctor, and a local community, servicing animals from across the region,” Reed said. “Just to hear what his day-to-day activities entail being a vet is something we want to know about, since it is a critical part of our community.”