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Dr. Daniel Castillo, the owner of Franklin Veterinary Clinic, has an additional recent accomplishment—the publication of his memoir, “Barking Big: A Veterinarian’s Inspiring Story of Perseverance.” The Clinic opened in Franklin in 1992, providing veterinary care for dogs, cats, and small mammals and Dr. Castillo and his family have made Franklin their home since 1996.
Then came Covid.
March of 2020 was a very intense time, recalled Castillo. “We had the busiest year ever but it was also the most stressful with high-intensity days and no one know what was going to happen,” he said. And it wasn’t just his own family. “I had a staff of 25 and we wanted to make the right decision, so we went day by day,” he said.
With all that going on Castillo said, the idea of writing his memoirs popped into his head. It was something that had been on his mind for years and the strange stresses of Covid made it suddenly seem right, he said.
So, he explained, he just started writing sometimes an hour or two in a day every day – at other times letting a week or more pass without touching the project. But he made progress and the larger story he was trying to get at began to come into focus.
Castillo said his story is of interest because it isn’t typical. “I didn’t just go off to college like a lot of people,” he said. His background, he explained, is “an intercultural union.” His father was a Dominican physician who arrived in the US in 1955 and his mother was Irish, with roots on Staten Island. The message of his origins and life experiences, he said is “don’t be classified as any one thing.” That includes grades, and goals, because everyone is different and approaches life differently. Often, he noted, it is about figuring out what you really want.
Castillo said he was a bit “wild” when he was young and it didn’t seem like he was headed for anything promising. “My SATs were low,” he admits.
But he had the good fortune to have the opportunity to study in Dominica and in a veterinary program. That might not have been so challenging if he had acquired his father’s native tongue – Spanish – first. But he had not and recalls spending days in class, tape recording lectures and trying to make sense of them later after one or two playbacks. “After about six months, I was actually starting to understand Spanish, though I couldn’t really speak at that point,” he says.
Eventually, after lots of hard work and a return to the US, he finally got his career started and married his wife, whom he met at Tufts Veterinary hospital.
The couple tried different areas of the US before finally settling in Franklin, where they raised two sons, Austin and Carter.
“Many of the older families in town were very welcoming, the Bissantis in particular,” he recalls.
And, when it came time to expand the practice, those relationships paid dividends.
“Dan and my family hit it off right away as we had dogs and loved animals...many a night and weekend I would call Dan for a sick cat or dog and he would answer that phone on the first ring and help us,” said Town Councilor Andy Bissanti. At some point, Bissanti explained, Castillo needed more parking as his business grew “and we helped him out,” said Bissanti.
While very much involved in community affairs and international relief work, Castillo said his proudest moment as a vet was working with the search and rescue dogs at Ground Zero following the 9/11 tragedy.
Castillo’s book is now available in both hardcover and softcover and can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target & many other outlets. Franklin Veterinary Clinic will also have a limited supply available at the clinic for purchase soon and will announce when they are available!
"Both my kids loved the book, because they had heard so many of the stories," Castillo added.
