Tuskegee University Veterinarians to Star in TV Series

Animal Planet's new series ``The Vet Life'' will focus on each of the veterinarian's families and working together at an animal hospital they opened in Houston, the Opelika-Auburn News reported. The eight-episode season will premieres Saturday evening, starring doctors Diarra Blue, Aubrey Ross and Michael Lavigne.

Lavigne said his friendship with the other two veterinarians started while attending Tuskegee University. Lavigne and Ross did their externship together in Las Vegas.

The three opened Cy-Fair Animal Hospital in the Cypress-Fairbanks area of Houston in 2015.

``The three of us not having any family out there in Las Vegas, we became our own family and our bond just kind of strengthened,'' Lavigne said. ``We started discussing plans for the future and we just developed the idea to start a practice together.''

Lavigne said part of the show's focus will be education. Lavigne said the Blue's sister, who was a producer on a show in Las Vegas, was instrumental in getting the Animal Planet show launched. She pitched the idea for the show to a production company, which made a reel which was shown to Animal Planet officials, who gave the show the green light.

``We'll always have students that will come in and intern, and we try to reach out to not only the community, but also to the schools,'' Lavigne said. ``We started a little Junior Vet Club Day and had kids come in and get to see what we do every day.''

Lavigne said he decided to become a veterinarian while he was in undergraduate school at Xavier University in New Orleans.

Lavigne explained what he hopes for the hospital and the show moving forward.

``The main thing that we hope for is, we're really big on trying to educate and actually try and encourage younger people -- especially minorities, African-Americans -- that this is an opportunity and a possibility,'' Lavigne said.

``What I would like people to know is that what they see on the show is genuine. The three of us have a really strong bond together and we're passionate about our careers and our families. I hope it brings something to people that they can relate to when they watch the show.''