2012 Veterinary Team

Dr Jeanie Wilcox is a ’94 graduate of Michigan State University. She has a practice in Gwinn, MI. She has been involved in the UP sled dog races as a vet since 1995…she really likes the green parka! Her interests beyond vet work include her biking, beading, horses, bird hunting with her spectacular dogs and wilderness trips to canoe and camp with her husband, Burt and appropriate critters when allowed.

Jeff Ladd DVM is a 1987 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. He is the owner of Keweenaw Veterinary Clinic in Michigan’s UP. He has participated in Sleddog Medicine/Races since 1990, to include the Beargrease, Up-200, Empire, Iditarod and Copperdog 150. He is a member of the ISDVMA. Dr. Ladd looks forward to returning to the UP200.

Kathy Topham, DVM, CCRT, VSMT, CVMA is a graduate of North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine but did not meet her husband in vet school like everyone thinks. Her career in recent years has focused on Canine Rehabilitation Medicine (physical therapy for dogs) and she currently works part time in OH in this capacity, and part time in VA. All those letters after her name just prove she can’t stay out of school, and has gotten certified in Canine Rehab, Spinal Manipulation and Acupuncture. And don’t bother asking, she only works on our four footed friends. No humans.

Phillip Topham, MS, DVM, VSMT is originally from OH, and after living all over the Midwest and Mid Atlantic Region is back in OH. He graduated from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine a long time ago. For the last 14 years he has been working as a relief veterinarian in numerous practices. His special interests in veterinary medicine includes Canine Sports Medicine and loves coming to the UP for sled dogs. Phillip has worked the UP200 and Midnight Run numerous times, and yet is still excited to be returning again this year.

Barb Korte DVM As a graduate of the charter class at University of Wisconsin Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. I’ve enjoyed a long career as a small animal veterinarian. I’ve worked as a relief veterinarian for the past 13 years and travel to clinics from my home base in Sparta, Wisconsin, in the south western part of the state near LaCrosse. Having had the privilege of helping my fellow veterinarians with the 2002 through 2005 and 2008 UP 200 races, I’m happy to be returning this year.

Dr. Sue Laskaska has owned the Bay Veterinary Clinic in Gladstone, Michigan for 14 years. She has been practicing veterinary medicine for 25. She began working sled dog races 13 years ago, and has worked the U.P. 200 for 10 of those years. She attended the ISDVMA sled dog sports medicine seminar in 2002. She is a lifetime ISDVMA member. Sue lives in Escanaba with her husband Randy. They have two children in college, Matt and Sarah. Sue’s other hobbies include snowmobiling, kayaking, and her newest passion, scuba diving. She did her first two ice dives last winter, and is eagerly anticipating doing more. Her pets include the J.J., the dumbest Pit Bull on earth, and a cockatiel, Chiquita.

Dr. Morrissey graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 1983 with B.Vet. Sci. and DVM degrees. A small animal practitioner, she has owned the North County Veterinary Clinic in Greenfield, MA since 1991. Dr. Morrissey has a special interest in canine reproduction and canine sports medicine. She gets great enjoyment seeing dogs do the jobs for which they were bred and trained for. She is interested in all aspects of dog sledding from driving her dogs recreationally to working on race vet teams. Dr. Morrissey has been part of most of the Can Am veterinary teams since 2000 and has also worked the 2009
Beargrease and the Great Trail sled dog race and has been the Chief Vet for the Sandwich Notch 60 races and in 2010 was the Chief Vet for the South African Dryland Sledding Association’s Inaugural Sled Dog events in Colesburg, South Africa. A member of the ISDVMA and the American Canine Sports Medicine Assoc., she is also a Board member and the Genetics Chairman for the Siberian Husky Club of America(SHCA) and the Eastern Representative of the SHCA’s Working Pack Dog Program. She is married and has two sons. In her spare time as well as running her dogs recreationally, she hikes with her dogs and shows them in obedience and rally obedience.

Jeff LaHuis DVM Dr. Jeff LaHuis graduated from Michigan State University in 1995 with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and a B.S. in Animal Science. Since graduation, he has practiced medicine around the state. Dr. LaHuis is the current owner of Sault Animal Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie. Before purchasing the clinic, he was employeed at a large, 9 vet hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. There he honed his skills at surgery and diagnostic ultrasound. Dr. LaHuis has a special focus on the problems associated with working dogs, from strains and sprains to behavioral problems. Personally he has trained several dogs through schutzhund, inculding titling two of his own dogs.

Thomas D. Gustafson, DVM Since 1994, Dr. Tom has served as a trail vet and chief vet on various sled dog races in the UP and Midwest, including the UP 200 and Midnight Run, Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race, Seney 300, John Beargrease, The G-M Classic, and The Great Trail Sled Dog Race. Dr. Tom practices in Manistique, MI where he co-owns the Thompson Veterinary Clinic(www.thompsonvetclinic.com). He and his wife, Cory, and four children share their hobby farm with animals too numerous to mention individually.

Nicole Waliszewski, DVM Is a 2006 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and member of the ISDVMA. She is an associate veterinarian at Brook-Falls Veterinary Hospital and Exotic Care, a small and exotic animal practice in the Milwaukee area. This is her third year as a member of the UP200/Midnight run veterinary team. The dogs and mushers continue to amaze her and she hopes to be able to continue caring for the teams for many years to come.

Dr. Jerry Vanek Following a 12-year “vacation” from the UP200, Dr. Jerry Vanek is thrilled to be returning for the 7^th time. His career with sled dogs has taken him from the southern tip of Chile to the northern reaches of Scandinavia to the southern tip of Africa; from Boston, to Nome; from North Dakota to the Yukon; from Paris to Barcelona. He has served as a sled dog veterinarian on over 85 races and expeditions since 1992, including 8 Iditarods, 5 Yukon Quests, 12 Beargreases, 6 UP200s, 7 Empire 130s, multiple times on the White Oak Classic, CanAm Crown, Race to the Sky, Apostle Islands, and Great Trail, as well as the Eagle Cap, Grand Portage Passage, Red River, IFSS World and Junior World Championships, South African National Championships, Norway’s Femundløpet, Sweden’s Amundsen Race, and numerous Midwestern sprint snow and dryland races. In 1993, Dr. Vanek was the veterinarian on the Mount Vaughan Antarctic Expedition, and, in 2007, ‘09, and ’11, a veterinarian on the 1925 Diphtheria Serum Run reenactment. A musher since his teens, he still drives dogs whenever he can. He is an honorary life member of the North Star Sled Dog Club; recipient of the Maeb Bayers’ Lifetime Achievement in Mushing award and the White Oak Classic Musher Tribute award; and past president, life member, and charter board member of the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association. Over the past two decades, Dr. Vanek has presented more than 110 lectures and publications on sled dog medicine to professional and general audiences. He is a certified canine rehabilitation therapist (CCRT) and his veterinary practice is focused on sled dogs and canine sports medicine.

The Rest of the veterinary team:

Pauline Schroeder

C.C. Schotts

Nick Vuckich

Kendra Carlson

Karen Mallum

Vet Techs

Virginia Crossett, RVT – I am a 1976 graduate of the Veterinary Technology Program at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky. After 5 years in small animal practice in Louisville, Kentucky I have been a veterinary technician and eventually the hospital supervisor at the Louisville Zoo since 1983. I am an avid hiker and have a husband, a teenager, and one dog. My only experience with sled dogs was a wheeled ride behind a team of Mitch Seavey’s (2004 Iditarod Winner) dogs at his training facility in Seward, Alaska. I was incredibly impressed with these dogs and how they appeared to absolutely love what they do. I am honored and excited to be part of the 2011 UP200/Midnight Run veterinary team.

Beckie Kilvington, CVT Beckie Kilvington has been a Certified Veterinary Technician since 1996. She has been involved with the John Beargrease Dog Sled Race since 2003, AISDR (2009) and the UP200 (2010). Beckie loves the amazing canine athletes that are the basis for the sled dog events and the people that are involved. She is a Certified Equine Massage Therapist and is working on her canine certification in massage therapy as well. In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her husband and step-daughter as well as camping, horseback endurance/trail riding and volunteering for as many sled dog events as possible!

Meghan Marks CVT back yet again for the BEST RACE EVER !!! Feel like most of you guys are long lost friends every year when we meet to look over the pups. Life is pretty much the same as years past. Two sassy Terriers and two cats lay around the house. Need anything just Holler and will be there to help HUGS !

Heather Darbo Heather is from a little Alabama town of Hokes Bluff. She grew up playing sports and hanging out with family and friends. After completing her Veterinary Technology Degree from Snead State Community College in June 1997, Heather moved to Birmingham, Alabama, to work at the University of Alabama/Birmingham and volunteered at the Birmingham Zoo. In August of 1998, Heather moved to Chicago, Illinois, to advance her veterinary technician skills in an emergency animal hospital and increase her zoo knowledge by volunteering at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Heather then traveled around the Midwest. She completed an internship at the Milwaukee County Zoo, advanced her emergency skills at the Animal Emergency Center, Milwaukee, WI, and participated in the veterinary internship program at the Animal Medical Center, New York City, in 2001. While in New York, Heather achieved her certification as a Veterinary Technician Specialist in Emergency and Critical Care (ECC). Since returning from New York, Heather continues to advance her ECC skills, and now is pursuing her love for exotic companion animals by working at Brook-Falls Veterinary Hospital & Exotic Care. Heather has presented lectures to Veterinary Technology Programs throughout the U.S. She enjoys her free time playing outdoors, biking, canoeing and hiking with her husband and their dogs. She still loves visiting her family and spends her free time working or playing with animals. Heather shares her house with her husband Don and her 2 Dachshunds–Jabba the Mut and Chocolate Chip. This will be Heather’s 3^rd time to volunteer as a part of the Veterinary Team for the UP200/Midnight run.

Kris Ausland-Saari, CVT This will be Kris’s first UP200 experience and she is super excited to work with the Vet Team, Musher’s and of course all the dogs! Kris has her Associates of Veterinary Technology degree, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree from theUniversityofMinnesota,Duluth. She is an Iraqi Freedom Veteran and retired from the Minnesota Air National Guard after serving for 21 years. Her Veterinary experience ranges from working on a mobile surgical unit, emergency medicine clinic, day practice, and rural area veterinary trips to help the less fortunate. Kris currently works as a CVT for her local Humane Society in CloquetMinnesota. Kris lives in Esko, MN with her husband, 2 teen-age daughters, 2 horses, 3 dogs, 4 cats and a ferret. In her spare time, Kris loves to camp and trail ride with her horses, trap shoot, golf, visit friends and family, and enjoy life!