Patricia O’Connor Halloran (November 29, 1914 - July 8, 2003) was an American

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

and longtime head caretaker at New York's

Staten Island Zoo The Staten Island Zoo is an urban zoo in West New Brighton, Staten Island, New York City. The zoo is open year-round except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. It has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) sin ...

Early life

O'Connor was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and grew up in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

with her mother and stepfather. Between 1933 and 1934 she entered the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

. Then in 1935 she attended the

New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University The New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University is a statutory college of veterinary medicine at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1894, it is the first statutory college of the State University of New Yo ...

, graduating in 1939. After graduating she moved to

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

, and worked at a private practice. While there she married her classmate John Lewis Halloran, Jr in 1940. Their wedding took place in

Stapleton, Staten Island Stapleton is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island in New York City, United States. It is located along the waterfront of Upper New York Bay, roughly bounded on the north by Tompkinsville, Staten Island, Tompkinsville at Grant Street, on ...

and was announced in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

society pages. The wedding announcement listed her profession as "physician". Then they moved to

Staten Island, NY Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

and both worked at John's father's vet clinic. Patricia worked in the clinic and did house calls. However, she was never paid by her father-in-law, whereas her husband was.

Staten Island Zoo

Patricia became pregnant with their first child in 1941. She became pregnant again in 1942. That same year in the fall, Patricia was hired by the Barrett Park Zoo (later known as the

) to work as a temporary veterinarian, as there were no men available during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war ended she remained on staff as their chief animal caretaker for 28 years. A 1943 article in

about an Open House at the zoo described O'Connor's work. The reporter suggested that she was "the only woman veterinarian in any zoo in the country." She was responsible for over 600 animals, including a

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverridae, viverrid native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on th ...

, an

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

, a

spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

, and a

herring gull Herring gull is a common name for several birds in the genus ''Larus'', all formerly treated as a single species. Three species are still combined in some taxonomies: * American herring gull (''Larus smithsonianus'') - North America * European h ...

. In 1944 O'Connor was in the news again, for removing an ingrown claw from a nine-year-old

African leopard The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragm ...

named Tommy. The article noted that Dr. O'Connor weighed 120 lbs; it did not mention the weight of the leopard. In 1949 she told the ''Times'' about her experience removing a cancer from a regal python.

Other accomplishments

O'Connor helped found the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), and was its first president from 1946 to 1957. In 1955 O'Connor published ''A Bibliography of References to Diseases of Wild Mammals and Birds'', a compendium and bibliography on the pathology of wild birds and mammals.

Later life

Upon the death of her husband John Halloran in 1966, she retired from the zoo to run Halloran's small animal clinic. From 1966-1982 she was consultant for an experimental animal colony at the U.S. Public Health Hospital on Staten Island. In 1999 she retired to Indiana. She died there on July 8, 2003. She is buried with her husband at St. Peter's Cemetery on Staten Island.

References

“Women Veterinarians.”
''Animal Pet Doctor.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Patricia 1914 births 2003 deaths American veterinarians University of Alabama alumni Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine alumni