… We kept up the treatments for a couple of weeks. He hated the eye ointments and nose creams, so we had to put a muzzle on his snout. As we approached with the ointments, he would growl in protest, a low, threatening GRRRRRRR!
We watched him carefully, wondering whether a smacking of chops was a preliminary chewing gum seizure. But no, we finally realized, he was just smacking his chops.
As the fears subsided and our lives settled down into a happy home with two dogs and two cats, my journalistic curiosity rose up. I asked myself some questions.
If canine distemper is fatal, why is Galen alive? If this Dr. Sears has a cure for this fatal disease, why aren’t other vets using his treatment?
The story of an unknown veterinarian with a dramatic cure for a terrible, fatal dog disease intrigued me. I wanted to know more about him and where he came from. This could be a good story for the newspaper. However, I had two problems. Much as I enjoyed working as a full-time freelancer at the L.A. Times, my four-year career there was coming to an end. I was very close to being hired by L.A. Valley College in Van Nuys to teach journalism full time.
The other problem? Dr. Alson Sears was not returning my phone calls.