Veterinarian Overview
Little Dave grew up in Rockland County and spent lots of time in the woods surrounding his house. At summer camp in the Poconos, he would sneak away to catch frogs and snakes at the lake. His nature counselor, Andy Pasternak, showed Little Dave that if you know how to look, nature would show you all of her secrets. Little Dave went to high school in the city and would frequently take the Subway to the American Museum of Natural History to roam the halls and exhibits. He would spend hours staring at the skeletons of all kinds of animals. After a 5 year stint living on a kibbutz in Israel and serving in the Israeli Armys Special Forces, medium-sized Dave went to college at Cornell University where he studied Animal Science. There, in Ithaca, near the magnificent Lake Cayuga, he had his first experience teaching children at the Cayuga Lake Nature Center where he would lead long excursions through the woods. He would teach the children how to walk through the woods with their eyes open. Sometimes crawling, sometimes running, the children would experience the woods as Little Dave did when he was eight years old. Big Dave went to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine where he discovered his passion, helping people. Dave loves animals and all of nature, and so he loves helping people experience that love as well. By helping people with their pets and especially helping children discover nature, he can help them experience the same sense of wonder he feels every day. Dr. Dave lives in Riverdale with his beautiful wife, Marni, their three sons, Noah Darwin, Gabriel Thoreau, Benjamin Muir, and their black cat, Lucy. Dr. David Bessler is an emergency vet at Veterinary Emergency Group, Westchester's premier emergency veterinary hospital. He spends his days (actually his nights) saving the lives of Westchesters pets.
