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41 The Links Road
Toronto, Ontario M2P1T7
CAN

P: 416-223-1165
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The Links Road Animal And Bird Clinic


The Links Road Animal and Bird Clinic, located in Toronto, offers care for birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, reptiles, and other exotic pets with expertise encompassing more than 70 years of combined clinical and surgical experience. They strive to meet the needs of patients and their owners. Their special interest and expertise are focused on birds and exotic animals. Their Toronto facility is certified under the rigorous guidelines of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO).

Rick Axelson, DVM

Dr. Rick Axelson graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1987. He apprenticed with his father, Dr. Dean Axelson, founder of The Links Road Animal & Bird Clinic (1973) until he purchased the hospital in January 1996. Rick grew up in Toronto and still lives in north Toronto with his daughter and cat. He has been surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes his entire life but has a special passion for birds and exotic species. He is a member of the College of Ontario Veterinarians, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA), Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) and Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). Rick has lectured to veterinarians, veterinary technicians, the Ontario Veterinary College, local parrot clubs and numerous community groups. He has appeared on local and national television and radio shows. He is the author of a veterinary education handout series for birds and exotic pets for Lifelearn Inc.

Youssef Sherif, DVM

We are delighted to be welcoming Dr. Youssef Sherif to our clinic family! Youssef was born in Egypt and raised in the United Arab Emirates. He has been a life-long animal lover and always wants to befriend every animal he meets – which created some headaches for his parents when he was a child! Throughout his life, Youssef has had a wide variety of pets, including a dog, cats, birds, a turtle, fish, chickens, geckos and lobsters. Youssef turned his love of animals into his life’s work, earning his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2011 from South Valley University in Qena, Egypt. Youssef worked at small animal clinics in Egypt and in the UAE before coming to Canada in 2017. He worked as a veterinary technician in Toronto while pursuing his veterinary medical license. In 2020, Youssef became licensed to practice veterinary medicine in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. Youssef spent some time working in Lethbridge and says Alberta is beautiful and he learned a lot during his time there. Youssef came back to Toronto in April 2021 and joined our clinic family shortly afterward. He also currently works as a locum at several veterinary emergency hospitals in the GTA. He is a member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).