St. Croix Valley Vet Clinic welcomes new owner
By Kelsie Hoitomt
GLENWOOD CITY – The St. Croix Valley Veterinarian Clinic recently changed ownership with Armon Hetzel having sold it to Dr. Vicki Wilke.
Wilke comes to the vet clinic after spending six years working at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. On her list of things to do there were teaching classes, running clinicals and working on different experiments.
She began her veterinarian journey in Madison where she graduated from the University with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree.
Also on her list of credentials is a board certification in small animal veterinary surgery after completing a surgery residency at Iowa State University in 2003.
She then completed a Doctorate in Animal Breeding and Genetics in 2006 after having studied the genetics of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs; known as the ACL in humans.
Wilke’s areas of interest other than cranial cruciate ligament ruptures include arthritis, obesity management, surgical cancer care and pain management of chronic disease.
Wilke has also recently been working on finding a treatment for bone tumors in dogs through an experimental drug.
In her free time, Wilke runs a clinic once a month in Minneapolis along with students from the U of M through an organization called “VeTouch”.
The purpose of this non-profit program is to provide free, basic veterinary services to low-income and/or no-income families who have pets. A few services include, wellness exams, distemper and rabies vaccines, diagnosis and treatment of parasitic diseases and nutritional support.
Wilke is also a part of another non-profit organization called “SIRVS,” which is U of M College of Veterinary Medicine run group that provides free veterinary wellness and surgical services to reservations. Their most recent trip was to the Leech Lake Reservation where over 150 pets were helped.
Wilke shared that it is a future goal of hers to provide clinics like those in Minnesota to people in this area.
For now, her main focus is settling into the vet clinic and starting the process of making new, long lasting connections with the people of the area and their pets.
Vicki resides in Baldwin with her husband, Jon and their four children, Devon, Jordyn, Ciarrha and Cole. They live on a small hobby farm where they raise whitetail deer, goats and poultry.