About Brian E. Joseph
Dr. Joseph hails from a small, semi-agricultural town south of San Diego, California, where he nurtured a lifelong fascination with animals, the environment, and marine life. His extensive career, spanning over five decades, has led him through a variety of roles, including animal keeper, consultant, veterinarian, and Executive Director. His work has taken him to aquariums, dolphin facilities, museums, nature centers, and zoos across the United States, Canada, and Asia.
In a remarkable enlistment at the age of 57, Dr. Joseph became the oldest veterinarian to join the United States Army Reserve Veterinary Corps. He retired as a highly decorated Major, having led missions focused on public health and disease control across multiple species in Africa, Alaska above the Arctic Circle, and Central America. Additionally, he provided veterinary care for Military Working Dogs in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
During his military service, Dr. Joseph was the recipient of numerous awards and medals, including four Army Achievement Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, and two Meritorious Service Medals, among others. He was also named Veterinarian of the Year in 2021 by the Washington State Association of Veterinary Medicine and received the 2022 Parks Champion Award from the Metropolitan Parks of Tacoma for his outstanding contributions.
In his current roles, Dr. Joseph serves as Merlin Entertainment’s North American Lead Veterinarian, Consulting Veterinarian for both the Aquarium on the Boardwalk and the Dolphin Experience, and Relief Veterinarian for the Seattle Aquarium. He is also a board member for LifeStock International, co-manager of a farmer training initiative in Iraq and Kurdistan, and an animal welfare inspector for the American Humane Association.
Dr. Joseph's academic achievements are equally impressive. He earned an Associate in Arts degree from Southwestern Community College in 1973, a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from San Diego State University in 1977, and a DVM from the University of California, Davis, in 1984. At the age of 69, he completed his Master’s in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Florida. He is also certified in Aquatic Veterinary Medicine by the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association.
An active contributor to scientific literature, Dr. Joseph has published over twenty articles in peer-reviewed journals and authored two book chapters. He is a frequent lecturer at veterinary conferences and at the Washington State University School of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Joseph resides in Gig Harbor, Washington, with his wife Sally, their two Bernese Mountain Dogs, a Leonberger, and a calico cat.
Snapshots and Stories
Clouded Leopards - Raja & Josie
For many years, zoologists believed there was a single species of clouded leopard, the smallest and most arboreal of the large cats, weighing between twenty-six and fifty-five pounds. Two decades ago, zoologists split clouded leopards into two behaviorally similar species: the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) and the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi). Clouded leopards are amazing, solitary carnivores; principally arboreal, hunting small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They are the only cats in the world that are said to run along the top or hang upside down from branches, using their long bushy tails for balance, and they climb down trees headfirst. Even more interesting, their canine teeth are the same length as those of a tiger, although tigers are ten times their size. They are an old species, according to paleozoologists, one of the first felids to diverge from the original feline ancestral species.
Combined, the two species of clouded leopards may number only 10,000 animals in the wild. Folks with limited understanding of conservation might think, well, that’s a lot! It isn’t.
Brian and Trixie at Coronado
Trixie Lou was our third Bernese Mountain Dog, born to our first female, Peppermander, in Gig Harbor, WA on November 3, 1999. Trixie was a kind, gentle soul, who never did anything wrong, and is one of the characters in both volumes of I Wish the Rainbow Bridge Had Visiting Hours.
Trixie was very much a living plush toy. Everywhere she went she was mobbed by admirers who wanted their photograph taken with her. There must be hundreds of photos out there with unidentified people and Trixie. She frequently went to work with me at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding,
California; later to my SAIC office in Old Town, San Diego.
One of Trixie’s favorite destinations was Dog Beach in Coronado, California, adjacent to North Island Naval Air Station. In the photograph, Trixie and I are walking north along the beach, the waves and sun on our left shoulders. I am holding a sea star that washed up on the beach and telling Trixie about sea stars before we return the sea star to the sea.
Trixie passed away on October 21, 2009. I was away in Toronto, Ontario, overseeing the air transport of brown-banded bamboo sharks. We didn’t get to say goodbye. I think she planned it that way. I miss her still.
email me at: brianjoseph522@gmail.com