about me…
My name is Dr. Steven Edwards. I grew up on Long Island, where I attended LIU Post and earned a B.S. in Biology. I then made the long trip to St. Kitts to attend veterinary school at Ross University, and finished my education with a year of clinical rotations at Virginia Tech.
After completing veterinary school, I returned to New York and entered practice. From 2013-2018, I worked in general practice on Long Island (including 3 years of full time work at Shirley Veterinary Hospital in Shirley, NY). From 2014-2018, I also performed regular relief work throughout Long Island and New York City.
In 2017, I decided to further explore my long-standing passion in veterinary behavior. I started the Shirley Veterinary Hospital Behavior Service, where I saw our own hospital’s behavior cases, as well as behavior cases from nearby practices on a referral basis.
But after 30 years of braving the cold in New York, I finally decided it was time for warmer weather. So in the spring of 2018, I moved to Clearwater, FL.
I am proud to now be able to offer relief services to hospitals and in-home veterinary behavior consults to clients throughout Pinellas and the surrounding counties.
When I am not working, I enjoy hiking, SCUBA diving, and dancing Bachata.
Relief services
I can provide general practice relief services at your hospital for one or more days at a time. If you have a doctor out sick or on vacation, if you simply want a day off, or if you would like to increase hospital revenue by having an extra doctor to help cover that busy day, then please call me so we can discuss how I may be able to help you.
Behavior services
I have a special interest in veterinary behavior. I was a participant in the NAVC Institute Applied Clinical Behavioral Medicine course in 2017 as well as the Advanced Behavioral Medicine course in 2019. I am also Fear Free certified (Level 2). From 2022-2024, I served as President of AVSAB (American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior). In 2023 I attended a week-long veterinary behavior course hosted by the Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Centre at Atlantic Veterinary College on Prince Edward Island. As AVSAB president, I also helped host the 2023 and 2024 Clinical Animal Behavior Conferences in Chicago. I have over 200 hours of continuing education in veterinary behavior, in addition to thousands of hours of clinical experience with veterinary behavior consultations.
I was published in Veterinary Practice News in January 2021 <https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/myvpnplus/the-veterinarian-behavior-partnership>
In 2021, I was also interviewed on Steve Dale’s Pet World for the release of the AVSAB Humane Dog Training position statement: https://stevedalepetworld.com/blog/position-statement-on-humane-dog-training/
In 2024 I was a panelist on the Association of Zoos & Aquariums RMC “Aggression Management in Zoo and Aquarium Animals” webinar series.
Behavior consults are typically ~3 hours long, and are performed in the client’s home. Behavior recheck appointments are 30-60 minutes in length, and can be scheduled as needed.
Prior to referring a patient for a behavior consult, I strongly recommend that you perform a physical exam and basic blood work in order to rule out any medical abnormalities. I also require that all patients being referred for a behavior consult have an up-to-date rabies vaccination.
