This year, for The Valley Reporter's annual dog issue, staff wanted to highlight the work of all the great people who allow local veterinarians to do what they do. Everybody knows them by name but most folks don't know much more about staff. Here is what we learned about some of the staff at Mad River Veterinary Service in Fayston. Veterinarian Dr. Karen Anderson provided some of the information and staffers provided some.
Julie Longstreth lives in West Bolton with her family of five plus two rescue dogs and two bunnies. She and her husband Tom are parents to Hector, Ebbe and Astrid. Annabelle is her 10-year-old Newfoundland and Wade is her 12-year-old spaniel/Newfoundland mix. The rabbits are Tarzan and Pippen.
She grew up surround by animals, sheep, pigs, a cow, chickens, bunnies, cats, dogs, ducks, a lamb and chickens. When her kids were in school, she talked to her home vet about becoming certified in Vermont as a veterinary assistant online and attained that.
“The goal for me is to be part of a team, help animals, and stimulate my brain learning new things to keep up with my kids,” she said, adding that working with animals influence and inspire her artwork.
She has been working with Dr. Anderson part-time for three years and said, as an active outdoors person, she enjoys the physical part of the job.
“Dr. Anderson is a wealth of knowledge and so open to teaching the willing individual. And very flexible with scheduling around my family’s needs,” she said.
“I also feel more strongly than ever (especially during and post pandemic)…having been at the Mad River Vet—that we human animals should remember we too are animals, and the non-human animals need our help as we lean on them everyday emotionally and they quietly enrich our lives,” she pointed out.
Anderson provided details about several other staffers. Kurt Wegener came back to work to help us out when a prior employee left. He has very broad and varied experience and interest, she said.
Linda Sinnot is a long-time Valley resident and Mad River Vet client and fills in one day a week at the vet clinic. She is an avid pet lover who typically has several dogs and several cats and recently adopted a puppy from For The Love of Dogs Vermont, Anderson reported.
Ella Glow moved to Waitsfield last year as a senior and started working at Mad River Vet almost a year ago, Anderson said. She started college this fall majoring in animal behavior and is working at Mad River Vet for a month over her school break.
“I've been at MRVS for a little over a year, and I've always been able to form a lovely connection with animals and I often volunteered at farms near me in Massachusetts. I'm currently studying animal science at University of Rhode Island to hopefully work at a wildlife rehabilitation center after I graduate. The best part of my job is being able to watch the animals get better over time. It's always lovely to see the hard work genuinely pay off,” Glow said.
Kailey Heim is a 16-year-old Harwood student whose grandmother was the kennel care provider at Mad River Vet for many years. Heim started providing kennel care this fall and comes in after school three days a week, Anderson said.
