Compassionate Home Euthanasia
Dawn Veterinary Care provides home euthanasia for pets in Frederick county and areas within a 45-minute drive of Mount Airy, Maryland (21771). This includes Pennsylvania. Please note that our home euthanasia service area does not include Virginia or DC. Areas outside a 45 minute drive time may be possible, please contact us to see how we may help you.
My Values
Service
Integrity
Compassion
Kindness
Family
My Experience & Education
About Dr. Dawn Fitzhugh
Veterinarian Licensed in Maryland and Pennsylvania
Dr. Dawn understands how difficult it is to say goodbye to a faithful pet friend. She offers home euthanasia as a result of her own experiences saying goodbye to pets who’ve been by her side through life’s ups and downs. Dr. Dawn and her husband, Bill, had their first experience with home euthanasia in 2005. Their beloved labrador retriever, Roly, was 12 years old and dying of cancer. Dr. Dawn’s close friend, who was also a veterinarian, came to euthanize Roly in her favorite place–a room in their home filled with love and sunshine where Roly had spent her time watching over Dawn’s first child and snuggling in laps. From that moment on, Dr. Dawn knew she’d provide such care to other families and pets faced with end-of-life choices. Why the long gap from losing Roly to proving home euthanasia? Dr. Dawn was on active duty in the Army for 21 years, retiring in 2021. Even through her time in the Army and raising young children, Dr. Dawn knew that providing home euthanasia was important to her and to pet families. In 2019, the entire Fitzhugh family moved to the Frederick area of Mount Airy. During that move, one of the family’s potbellied pigs became terminally ill. Dr. Dawn struggled to find a veterinarian who would come to euthanize her potbelly pig. In her heart, Dr. Dawn knew that all animals deserved peaceful and compassionate end-of-life care no matter their species. Holding true to that heartfelt calling, Dr. Dawn provides home euthanasia services for nearly all animal species. Though Dr. Dawn has 2 daughters who ride horses, horses are a species that Dr. Dawn does not provide veterinary care to.
To provide your faithful pet friend with compassionate and loving end-of-life care, Dr. Dawn draws on more than 20 years of experience as a veterinarian. As an Army Veterinary Corps Officer, Dr. Dawn provided veterinary care to the Army’s military working dogs and to the animals involved in the Army’s research and training programs. She has had the honor of caring for mice, rats, guinea pigs, pigs, rabbits, ferrets, sheep, goats, birds, lizards, and of course dogs and cats. Her career has been guided by providing all animals with compassionate care and, when needed, humane euthanasia.
Dr. Dawn understands that pets often need help at the last minute, on holidays, and evenings. Dr. Dawn will work hard to accommodate requests based on what is best for you and for your pet. Please do call or text her about your family and pet’s needs. She wants to make sure all beloved pets experience loving and compassionate home euthanasia that honors the life you’ve shared with them. If she’s not available, she will help guide you to a colleague who is.