Gary Stuer, DVM, CVA, ACVCHM

Much has changed since my wife Anne and I opened the doors of Bethel Animal Hospital in 1994. What began as a small office squeezed into a part of our farmhouse, became a stand alone building on our property six years later. A staff of two quickly grew to meet the needs of our expanding family of patients and their people. Technology definitely changed the way we practice. We now have blood work results in minutes rather than days, x rays results in seconds not hours, telemedicine capabilities, laser therapy and state of the art anesthesia monitoring. But one thing has not changed. We care. We care about our patients and their people. Always.

Over the years, I have been incredibly fortunate to work with many dedicated, talented and caring individuals at our hospital. The majority of our staff members have been with me for many years, including my two associates Dr. Schubert and Dr. Gorrell. I am grateful to all of them.  Anne is retired from her role as business manager after more than 25 years. She was instrumental in the growth and success of our hospital. She was always in the background making sure that all the pieces were in place so that the things would run smoothly and efficiently.

I still love working with animals. About 20 years ago, I became interested in acupuncture after attending a weekend introductory course. That interest soon turned into a passion. Now, I view all patients through both a western medicine and eastern medicine lens so that I can choose the most appropriate plan of action. Many times that includes acupuncture, herbal medicine and nutritional counseling. I still enjoy surgery although I do much less of that now.

In my time away from the hospital, I like to hike, paddle board and snowshoe. I am also learning to play the guitar, although that is a slow process since my fingers are not as flexible as they used to be.  My most unusual hobby is rug hooking which has been a wonderful creative outlet. I have completed several hand made rugs in the past couple of years that I have designed. I have had many of my own animals of course and loved them all. At the time of this writing, my Labrador, Miya, is the only animal member of my household. They have all been gifts in my life.