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+ Chief Veterinarian - Dr. Jerry Vanek

Dr. Jerry Vanek's career with sled dogs has taken him from the southern tip of Chile to the northern tip of Norway to the Karoo of South Africa; from Boston to Nome; and from North Dakota to the Yukon. He has served as a sled dog veterinarian on 90 races and expeditions including the Iditarod, Quest, Beargrease, CanAm, UP200, Femundløpet, and Finnmarksløpet; the Mount Vaughan Antarctic Expedition, and three 1925 Diphtheria Serum Run reenactments. A musher since his teens and former sprint race competitor, he still drives dogs whenever he can. He is an honorary life member of the North Star Sled Dog Club; a recipient of both the Maeb Bayers' Lifetime Achievement in Mushing award and the White Oak Classic Musher Tribute award; and a 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 130 lectures and publications on sled dogs and sled dog medicine to veterinarians and mushers on three continents. He is a certified canine rehabilitation therapist (CCRT) with a veterinary practice focused on sled dog medicine, and he is the co-inventor of the Ultimate Wrist Wrap, still the most commonly-used carpal wrist wrap in use today. He divides his time among his family's 1881 homestead in Minnesota's northern Red River Valley; his lake cabins near Bemidji, Minnesota; and his home with Jill by the shores of Gichigami in Grand Marais, Minnesota.