Veterinarians

Dr. Heather Harrison joined the North Pole Veterinary Hospital team in May of 2021. Dr. Harrison was born and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York and at age 6 knew she either wanted to be a vet or a rock star with pink hair. Dr. Harrison obtained her Bachelors degree in Business concentration in vet practice…

Dr. Katrina Backus came to North Pole Veterinary Hospital in November of 2020. Dr. Backus was born and raised in a small rural Northern Idaho town. Dr. Backus spent her undergraduate studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and went on to obtain her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa….

Dr. Richards was born in Seattle, WA and grew up in Southern California. She graduated with degrees in Criminology and Sociology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2002. Following an exciting career in law enforcement, she went back to school for a new career path and obtained her DVM from North Carolina State University…

Dr. Josh Link grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and attended Lebanon Valley College for his bachelor’s degree in Biology.  He first came to Alaska in 2015 for veterinary school and is a member of the first class of veterinarians to graduate from the combined program between University of Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado State University.His previous…

Dr. McKayla Dick was born and raised in El Paso, TX. After serving in the United States Air Force as an in-flight refueler she earned her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Purdue University and her DVM degree from St. Georges University, Grenada. Dr Dick’s interests are internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, cardiology, and emergency…

Dr. Dawn Brown first starting racing sled dogs as a junior in the Northeast US in 1982, and still maintains a competitive limited class sprint team. She first came to Alaska as a veterinary student in 1993, and later drove the Alcan Highway several times to work as a relief veterinarian and as a race…

Dr. Melissa Rouge was born and raised in Colorado where she was active in 4-H dog obedience, AKC obedience and sled dog racing. She graduated with her DVM from Colorado State University in 2004. After graduation, she did an internship in a virology research laboratory working mostly with West Nile Virus. She moved to Alaska…

Dr. Denali Lovely (Henderson) was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She left Alaska after high school and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and a minor in Botany from the University of Montana. Montana is where she met her husband Patrick. She and her husband worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service…