• By Chris Aldridge
• Kentucky Agricultural News

Dr. Alex Hagan began serving as Kentucky’s deputy state veterinarian on Jan. 1.

He came to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture after working nearly six years as a large animal veterinarian at Wonderlich Veterinary Services in Shelbyville. That “on-the-farm experience,” according to Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Ryan Quarles, in preventative and emergency animal medicine is one of the things that made him an attractive candidate for the position.

Dr. Hagan originally applied for the state veterinarian position vacated by the retirement of Dr. Robert Stout. Dr. Stout was replaced by Dr. Katie Flynn, who became Kentucky’s first female state veterinarian after serving seven months as Stout’s deputy.

Quarles called Drs. Flynn and Hagan “a top-notch team to lead our Office of the State Veterinarian (OSV).”

“Dr. Flynn is where she should be, and I’m where I should be,” Dr. Hagan said. “I’m blessed that it worked out that way.

“Dr. Flynn is very energetic, very motivated, and she has a crazy wealth of regulatory knowledge and experience. She has a whole world perspective, having been involved in the FMD (foot and mouth disease) outbreak in England.”

Dr. Hagan said he and Dr. Flynn are sharing the leadership responsibilities in OSV.

“She told me, ‘Hey, this is a job that we have to do together,’” Dr. Hagan said. “She said, ‘This is a team effort. This is not a role that is intended for one person to fulfill. We’re going to help each other out.’”

Dr. Hagan admitted he is undergoing “an adjustment period,” transitioning from general practice to a state regulatory role.

“Regulatory medicine is like a whole new career from general practice,” he said. “I’ve worked with livestock, primarily cattle. But in Kentucky, you throw poultry into that, which is our top farm product, and there’s a lot more things to be involved in from an animal disease standpoint.”

Taking the job in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hagan said he is looking forward to interacting with people face to face in the coming weeks, rather than virtually through a computer screen.

“I’m a people person, so that’s something that I look forward to changing, to get out and meet with people again,” he said. “The whole virtual thing is awkward to me, not natural.

“I have an appreciation of what this job means to producers in Kentucky, what we do to protect the health of their animal populations. This job is an opportunity to serve animal agriculture in Kentucky.”

One of the people Dr. Hagan called before applying was Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher, a former state veterinarian in the Volunteer State. In Dr. Hagan’s first job after college, he worked for two years at Dr. Hatcher’s practice, Rock-N-Country Veterinary Services in College Grove, Tennessee.

“I called Dr. Hatcher and asked him, ‘Hey, tell me about your time as state vet,’” Dr. Hagan said. “He was one of the people that I respected and related to, a big influence.”

A 2003 graduate of Oldham County High School, Dr. Hagan studied animal science and biology at Morehead State University and received his doctorate of veterinary medicine from Auburn University in 2011.

Dr. Hagan holds a category II accreditation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Program. His wife, Jessie, is also a veterinarian.

Dr. Hagan is also a livestock farmer. He owns beef cattle with his brother-in-law at a farm in Henry County near Campbellsburg.

“I am very excited to work alongside Commissioner Quarles, Dr. Flynn, and KDA to continue to serve and support our animal industries in Kentucky,” he said.