Dr. Franklin McMillan, DVM, Director of Well-Being Studies
Dr. Franklin McMillan has been the Director of Well-Being Studies at Best Friends since October 2007. As Director of Well-Being Studies, Dr. Frank assesses and studies the mental health and emotional well-being of animals who have endured hardship, adversity and psychological trauma. Through these studies, he hopes to learn what the effects of trauma are - the psychological injuries and scars - and how best to treat them in order to restore to these animals a life of enjoyment rather than one of fear and emotional distress.
He is currently conducting such studies on cats from the Great Kitty Rescue in Pahrump, Nevada - an institutionalized hoarding situation - and the fighting dogs taken from the estate of former NFL quarterback Michael Vick.
He is a board-certified specialist in veterinary internal medicine. Before coming to Best Friends, Dr. Frank was in private practice in Los Angeles for 23 years. In addition, he was a clinical professor of medicine at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Frank is the author of Mental Health and Well-Being in Animals, the first textbook on the mental health of animals, and he has also written a book for the general public titled Unlocking the Animal Mind: How Your Pet?s Feelings Hold the Key to His Health and Happiness.
His favorite part of working at Best Friends is collaborating with great people and doing great things for the animals. At home, Dr. Frank has two cats, Birdie and Boo, and a rat named Mr. Peabody who chases them both around the house.
