Westside Animal Hospital of Augusta was founded by Dr. Gary L. Wilkes in 1977.  When Dr. Wilkes retired from veterinary medicine in 2018, Westside Animal Hospital was purchased by Dr. Dustin C. Hawkins.

Dr. Hawkins was born and raised in Evans and Appling, Georgia. Like most young boys in the country, he always had his dog by his side and grew up with a love of nature and animals. While enrolled at Georgia Military College and later Augusta State University, Dr. Hawkins worked full-time as an automobile mechanic and later as a veterinary technician in Augusta.  Dr. Hawkins then went on to attend the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.   After receiving his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Hawkins came back to the CSRA to serve his hometown.  In March 2018, he purchased Westside Animal Hospital and made it his mission to continue the clinic's warm, family atmosphere that had always endeared clients as well as to update the clinic and put the primary focus back on surgical and medical skill and innovation.  Dr. Hawkins currently resides in Evans with his wife Jennifer, their two daughters and poodle-mix Sanford.