Meet Our Team

Founders of Virden Animal Hospital

Dr. Carlyle Mcdougall

(Retired)

Dr Carlyle Mcdougall was raised on a cattle and grain farm. He graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph in 1965. He started practicing in Elkhorn for a year. Then he switched to Virden and practiced mixed animal medicine out of an office downtown in 1966. Carlyle was on call everyday. He was very busy, especially during calving season, but he still made time for small animal surgeries on Saturdays. ‘The Veterinary Clinic,’ now known as Virden Animal Hospital, was Built in 1974. His clinic grew quickly which allowed him to hire another veterinarian, Dr. Everett More. Carlyle still works at Virden Animal Hospital, doing some office work for the clinic. 

Carlyle lives on a farm close to the clinic with his wife, Irma. They have a daughter, Cathy, and two sons, Robbie and David. Robbie is a partner Virden Animal Hospital. Carlyle loves to spend his free time gardening.

                                                                                                                   Dr. Everett More  

(Retired December 2020)

Dr. Everett More was raised on a family farm at Dand, 60 miles south east of Virden. He was a 10 year 4H beef club member and enjoyed showing both cattle and light and heavy horses at local fairs. After high school, he attended the University of Manitoba in the Agriculture Degree Program and the summer before entering Veterinary College worked in Virden as an assistant Ag Rep. He graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon in 1972and joined Dr Carlyle McDougall in practice in Virden. 

Everett was a partner in Virden Animal Hospital for some 35 years but as of June 1, 2016, he semi-retired and on December 31, 2020 he fully retired.

Everett has a son, Darren, and daughter, Aleaha, who both attended colleges in Alberta and have eventually settled back in Virden. Darren and his wife, Kelly, have two children, Connor and Emily, making Everett a grandpa. Everett and Irene Vanin have a small farm with a herd of registered Simmental Cattle and a half dozen registered Quarter Horses. They enjoy showing cattle at local summer fairs as well as raising bulls and bred heifers for sale. Everett has been involved with the Virden Indoor Rodeo and Wild West Daze since its inception.

Veterinarians

Dr Robbie Mcdougall

Dr. Robbie Mcdougall is a partner of Virden Animal Hospital. He began working at the Virden Animal Hospital at a young age alongside his father, Dr. Carlyle McDougall. He graduated from Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon in 1989. He has enjoyed working with many different species of animals throughout his career and now currently focuses on bovine medicine and surgery.

Robbie lives east of Virden with his wife, Adriana. Robbie is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from so many great clients over the years.

Dr Roger Richard

Dr Roger Richard is a partner of Virden Animal Hospital. He was raised in a military family stationed throughout western Canada. His father retired after 25 years of service in 1974 to a mixed farm, in Crawford Park area, south of Riding Mountain National Park. Roger graduated from WCVM in 1989. He worked in Pilot Mound after college before coming to the Virden Animal Hospital in 1991.

Roger married Carla Jasper in 1994 and lives west of Virden with their 3 daughters; Adrienne, Leah and Avery. Much of their free time revolves around their daughter’s sporting events including volleyball, basketball, fastball and hockey. Together they run a 90 head commercial cow-calf herd. They enjoy working their herd on horseback. Roger has been in all facets of mixed animal practice over the years including food animal, equine and companion animal. With the addition of the current staff of veterinarians, Roger has been able to focus on his main interest, beef production.

Dr Carla Loewen

Dr Carla Loewen is a partner of Virden Animal Hospital. She grew up on a dairy farm in southeastern Manitoba which instilled the love and care of animals at a very young age. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan - Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002 and began her career in Virden and has been there ever since. Initially she worked as a mixed animal veterinarian but soon started to spend more time working and growing the companion animal side of the practice. You can still find her doing emergency large animal calls during the nights but her primary focus is working on the companion animal side of the practice in medicine and surgery.

Carla lives with her husband Dean Brooker on an acreage in the Virden area with their two dogs and three cats. She (they) also enjoy fostering rescue animals and often have one or two hanging out on the acreage waiting to find their forever homes. When not working on animals she can most often be found in the kitchen baking or outside working on the acreage.

Dr Nadine Wohlgemuth

Dr. Nadine Wohlgemuth is a partner of the Virden Animal Hospital. She grew up on a 175 head cow/calf farm south of Oak Lake, MB. She began helping her parents with all aspects of the beef farm at a very young age, learning many important skills that are put to use daily in her veterinary career.

She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001. She started her veterinary career in Arborg, MB. In 2002, she moved back to her home town of Oak Lake to farm with her parents and practiced in Melita, MB. In the fall of 2005, she joined the Virden Animal Hospital team. For several years she was a mixed animal veterinarian, providing food animal and companion animal services. However, with the addition of more veterinarians to the Virden staff, her primary focus is now Food animal medicine and surgery.

Nadine lives with her husband, Keith, and their two young children, Noah and Ella, on their farm north of Oak Lake. They own a 200 head cow/calf operation and a custom silage business as well, so life is never dull!! Their family also consists of four rescue dogs: Elmo, Bob, Diesel and Dozer and six rescue cats: Gidget, Harry, Luey, Hue, Louise and Jack.

Dr Joe King

Dr. Joe King is a partner of Virden Animal Hospital. He was raised on an equine ranch near Lenore, MB with his two brothers, Scott and Charlie King. Joe’s parents, Doug and Deb King, taught their sons horsemanship and the value of hard work. After high school and two years of working/travelling, Joe studied pre-veterinary science at the University of Manitoba.

Joe graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009 before practicing in an equine internship in Weatherford, TX and then starting practice at the Virden Animal Hospital. Dr. King offers advanced lameness and sports medicine for equine athletes, along with performance dentistry procedures, surgery, preventative medicine and reproduction services.

Joe enjoys spending time with his wife, Gita, their son Rally, and daughter Summer. He also enjoys travelling to rodeos with his family each summer and fall, where he competes in steer wrestling.

Dr Gita Gunson-King

Dr. Gita Gunson is a partner of Virden Animal Hospital. Gita grew up near Stony Plain, AB and developed a passion for animals alongside her father who was a wildlife biologist. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010 and started practicing small animal medicine in Saskatchewan before her move to Virden in 2012. Her primary focus is on companion animal medicine and surgery but she has a special interest in small animal ultrasound, wildlife and zoo animals.

Gita lives with her husband, Joe King, their son, Rally, and daughter Summer, on a farm just outside of Virden where they have a public riding arena and board horses (Kings Crossing). Their family also consists of a three legged dog, four cats and three horses.

Dr. Hayley Schuddemat

Dr. Hayley Schuddemat is an associate veterinarian at the Virden Animal Hospital. She grew up on a cow/calf farm near Melita, Manitoba where she developed her love for animals. She was a long-standing beef and equine 4H member throughout her school years. Hayley spent two years studying agriculture at the University of Manitoba before starting her studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Hayley graduated with her veterinary degree in 2020 and is excited to be starting her career with the VAH team. You can find her practicing in all aspects of the clinic, but her primary focus is large animals, both equine and bovine.

 Hayley now lives with her fiancé, Lucas Oliver, on a farm south of Melita. They are part of a family farm with a grain operation and a 500 head cow/calf herd including a small purebred simmental herd. In her spare time Hayley enjoys riding horses and spending time with her 3-legged cat, Lenny and her two dogs, Millie and Boog.

Registered Animal Health Technologists

Sherry Wilson

Sherry graduated from Kelsey Campus in Saskatoon in 1982. She started her vet tech career in Hamiota before coming to Virden on September 22, 1987. She lives on a farm, in Lenore, with husband, Jim and son, Wyatt. They run a small cow-calf operation and also have a herd of farm cats.
Sherry has a great sense of humour and we are thankful that she has been a dedicated RAHT at Virden for about 30 years!

Hilary Griffith

Hilary started working at VAH as an animal health technologist after her graduation from NAIT in Edmonton in 2007. She currently resides in Oak Lake with her husband, Kevin and son, Blake where they cattle and grain farm with Kevin's parents. They have a herd of furry kids including 6 cats, a dog, and her horse.
Whether she's working on a small critter or a large animal, Hilary has great knowledge and experience in all areas of the practice.

Cathy Rouse

Cathy graduated from the Animal Health Technology Program at Lakeland College in 2009. She started her career as an RAHT in Saskatoon and Martensville prior to coming to Virden in 2012. Cathy lives in Moosomin with her boyfriend (Troy), her Great Dane (Trigger), cats (Poe, Tai, and Smudge) and her horse (Legs), Her interests include her 4 legged creatures, of course, and baking and gardening.
Patients are in good hands with Cathy’s passion and dedication for quality care.

Brandi Matheson

Brandi has been at VAH since May 2012. She graduated from Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alberta in 2012. Brandi lives on a farm outside of Brandon with a variety of animals, including 4 horses, 3 cats and 2 dogs.
Brandi has a special interest in equine health and small animal surgery. She is a skilled technician and a very friendly individual and has been a great addition to the Virden Animal Hospital team. 

 Taylor Funk

                                    " In Maryfield Saskatchewan not born but raised, volunteering for my community is where I spend most of my days. "

Taylor joined us at VAH in August, 2020. She graduated from Lakeland College in June of 2019, gaining her RVT status in August of 2019. Taylor  is newly married to Dillon, her long time love of 8 years. They live near Maryfield, Saskatchewan with their pets Luna, Java, Kiara, Monster and Mew. Her passion for animals started when she was young and has yet to cease.

 Her favorite quote by John Bunyan is a motto she lives by. "You haven't lived today until you've done something for someone who can never repay you." She's grateful for the opportunities she's been given and hopeful to gain the knowledge and skills like many others who speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. 

Receptionists

Sherry Gurr

Sherry is one of our friendly, knowledgeable receptionists. She joined our VAH team in August, 2005. She grew up on a mixed farm near Cromer. She now lives in Virden her dogs, Charlie and Oliver. She loves spending time with her daughter, April and(granddaughter) and  twin sons, Brady and Dillon.

She is well known for her friendly nature and will always greet you with a smile.

Nicole Carruthers

Nicole joined VAH in 2013 as one of our outgoing, helpful receptionists. Nicole shares her home in Virden with her significant other, Jamine, and their adorable rescue animals; Zero (the munchkin kitty), Dudley (the ferocious, diabetic Daschund) and Elvis (the handsome Basset Hound).

Nicole always takes an interest in your animals and is quick to give helpful advice!

Jessie Sykes

Jessie joined VAH team in January, 2021 and is another one of our friendly, helpful receptionists. She grew up on a mixed farming operation with cattle and horses between Brandon and Rivers. She had a plethora of animals growing up including goats, llamas, miniature horses, chickens, cats, and of course dogs. Cows are her favorite animal with dogs coming in second place. She now lives on an acreage in Oak Lake with Malcolm, their pup Hela, sister cats Storm and Sunny, as well as a handful of cows. 

Jessie is enjoying the change of pace from Brandon to the small town environment of Virden!

 Office/Practice Manager

Debra Kain

Debra joined VAH in November of 2018 in a newly created position as Office/Practice Manager. She grew up on a dairy farm at Chater, Manitoba that later became a cow/calf operation. She graduated from Brandon University with a B.G.S. and a B.A. and later from Queen’s University she attained her MBA.

Debra spent 18 years in Calgary working in the areas of finance, pipeline sales and customer service in the oil and gas industry. She moved back to Manitoba in 2005 and has worked with Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba Agriculture and spent 5 years managing Brandon Hills Veterinary Clinic in Brandon.

She has a chocolate Labrador called Dawson and an orange cat named Thomas and lives in Souris. Debra spends her time walking her dog, volunteering, golfing, and has recently taken up yoga, pilates, and pickle ball.

Debra grew up with dogs, cats, cattle and horses and is very happy to be back with them again on a regular basis.