Our History and Mission
Appointment
The History of Fair Winds
in Galveston
After building from scratch and selling her first pet hospice practice in Houston after eight years in 2021, Dr. Christie Cornelius moved to Galveston to enjoy the scenery and the festive environment of the island. While residing here and attending Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, she and her business partner at the time decided to start offering pet hospice to the residents of Galveston Island while not attending class. Dr. Cornelius received her MBA in May of 2024, and post-graduation, continues to practice solo on the island performing mobile end-of-life care visits.
Dr. Cornelius also enjoys educating other veterinarians about entrepreneurship, startups, business management, technology innovation, and a variety of other topics through her writing, speaking and educational seminars. Dr. Cornelius is a member of the board of directors for the Independent Veterinary Practitioners Association, and is passionate about helping other independent veterinarians succeed in their practices all over the world. In her free time, Dr. Cornelius enjoys caring for her own cats, dogs and backyard chickens, rides in the golf cart, walks on the beach, and the many unique shops and dining experiences on the Strand and all over the island.
Our Mission
Fair Winds, as an organization, believes in the values of compassion, empathy, collaboration, integrity, and honesty when it comes to the care of families and aging pets. The vision of Fair Winds is for all aging pets to experience physical, emotional and mental comfort as they approach the end of their natural lives, and for all families caring for elderly pets to feel fully supported by compassionate professionals trained in veterinary hospice and palliative care.
Fair Winds aims to improve the outcomes for senior and geriatric pets diagnosed with painful, debilitating, chronic or life-limiting illnesses. Fair Winds works to accomplish this by providing resources to help caregivers recognize the presence of emotional and physical pain in their companions to minimize and prevent suffering more effectively and efficiently.
Our care at Fair Winds continues until the family has made a decision to humanely euthanize their pets due to declining health or until the pet passes away at home without intervention.