‘The Incredible Dr. Pol’: The Scariest Thing That’s Happened In Taping the Show
On The Incredible Dr. Pol, it’s real life happening at a real veterinary clinic. There are no sets or animals brought in with fake illnesses.
The 77-year-old animal doctor, his staff, and their patients are the real deal and, as the vet himself says, sometimes it can get a little scary.
It’s the real deal on ‘The Incredible Dr. Pol’
Dr. Pol is an optimistic personality and feels that the show is so popular because that’s what people are looking for: a break from the harshness and fast pace of life.
“What you see on the [Nat Geo Wild] show is real family life,” Dr. Pol told AARP in 2019. “In the beginning, a producer wanted me and my son, Charles, to get into a fight for the cameras. I said, ‘I’m not going to do it; our family loves each other.’ ”
The Netherlands-born vet paused in his book, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow to reflect on how this reality show came out of nowhere and changed his life and his family’s.
“We have appreciated every single moment of this experience. And every once in a while I kind of pause and wonder why it has happened. And the answer, I think, goes back to the values that our family has always lived by; we believe in working to the best of our ability, being fair and honest, never forgetting how important it is to laugh at ourselves.”
Something that’s real to Dr Pol: affordable veterinary care
An issue very dear to the Michigan veterinarian is affordable pet care for everyone. It upsets Dr. Pol to see a pet’s care compromised because its family is unwilling to get it the care it needs because of lack of resources. He elaborated on this point on his website.
“The question I ask myself when I see a patient is: ‘What do I have to do to reach the best possible outcome, in the fairest and most economical way possible?’ “
“No owner wants an animal to suffer because medical care is unaffordable, and there are far too many animals abandoned or euthanized as a result. Affordable care means that I let my clients make the choice that is right for their family. And for me, the animal always comes first. Always.”
Animal care can get scary
As easy as Dr. Pol makes it look, caring for animals, especially large ones, including the cows, bulls, goats, snakes, and more that Pol Veterinary Service sees on a daily basis is anything but easy. So what’s one of the scariest moments the staff has seen take place during filming of the reality show?
Charles Pol told NatGeo WILD in 2014, “We’ve had a number of close calls with the crew, but the most dangerous was probably when one crew member got run down by a beef cow. We lost the footage of the incident, so it never made the actual show, but it was really scary.”
Read more: ‘The Incredible Dr. Pol’: What is The Vet’s Favorite Dog Breed?
