06/20/2022
We are thrilled to announce our new Chief of Staff at our booming animal hospital, West Asheville Family Vet, Dr. Kristina Hubbard! Dr. Hubbard is excited to be in Asheville with access to farmer's markets, great restaurants, and amazing outdoor activities after her isolation in the Arctic. In her free time she enjoys hiking, biking, gardening, reading, woodworking, and fiber arts. She provides rent-free accommodations to Murgatroyd (a one-eyed, grumpy old man cat), Berlioz (a three-legged orange tabby), Mannheim (a Mississippi foster failure kitten), and Silent (a very mixed breed dog from Alaska's North Slope).
Dr. Kristina Hubbard grew up in rural Nebraska with a menagerie of pets ranging from mudpuppy salamanders from the local bait shop to a sassy doe rabbit won at the county fair (even though animals shouldn't be prizes!). She completed an animal science bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and finished veterinary school at Iowa State University.
After a few years as a small animal veterinarian in South Dakota, Dr. Hubbard headed south to Mississippi State University for a three year residency in population medicine where she became a board certified veterinary epidemiologist and completed her master's degree. She loved teaching veterinary students surgery and on-site disease outbreak investigations on everything from nutrition disorders in cattle herds to virus outbreaks in animal shelters. Following her residency, she spent the last four years in Utqiagvik/Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the United States on the shore of the Arctic Ocean with 67 days of continuous darkness during the winter months and temperatures down to -72F. During her stay she helped with the Iditarod sled dog race, visited rural Alaska communities to provide veterinary services, and had amazing wildlife neighbors including polar bears, caribou, whales, and snowy owls, making for an unforgettable experience.
