06/19/2025
After more than three decades of compassionate care, Dr. John Dally has retired! Please see his letter to our clients below.
To honor his years of dedication and the difference he’s made in so many lives, we’ve created a digital retirement card, as he made the tough decision to have a quiet departure. We would love for you to add your well wishes to this digital card!
Please click the link below to share a message for Dr. Dally:
👉 Sign Dr. Dally’s Retirement Card: https://www.thankbox.com/app/thankbox/0eAY7Z48
Thank you for being part of our community and for helping us celebrate Dr. Dally’s next chapter!
Warm regards,
The Cooperative Veterinary Care Team
(Spring Green & Mazomanie Animal Hospitals)
___________________________________________________________________
Dear Friends, Clients, and Colleagues,
It's with a mix of nostalgia and excitement that I share this news. Over 47 years ago, while exploring the small library at my parochial grade school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a book with a picture of an animal on it led me to James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small." At the age of eleven, this, my first "adult book", sparked a profound realization: I wanted to become a veterinarian.
From that moment on, my path was clear. I dedicated myself to my education, striving for the grades needed to enter college and, eventually, the very competitive veterinary school at UW Madison, from which I graduated in 1992. I was also incredibly fortunate to volunteer at the country's first 24-hour veterinary emergency facility in the Milwaukee area while in high school and at UW Milwaukee.
Upon graduation, I was privileged to join River Valley Veterinary Clinic in Plain, Wisconsin, where I served as the companion animal veterinarian. The supportive environment and my dedicated colleagues and mentors, Drs. Wilson, Mueller, Knoll, Scneller, Kieler, and Been and their team. made my twelve years there, with long work days and 24 hour on-call responsibilities, truly enjoyable.
Dr. Mark Baenen and I decided to purchase the companion animal portion of the practice and moved it to Spring Green. For the next 21 years, we job shared the primary veterinarian position so that we could have a better work-life balance and help participate fully in the responsibilities and joys of raising our young children as well as the rewards and challenges of small business ownership of Spring Green Animal Hospital, cherishing the opportunity to care for the wonderful pets and their families we had come to know so well.
In early 2020, we expanded by adding Mazomanie Animal Hospital, just before the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic began. Navigating those difficult times required the continued dedication and collaboration of our entire team, and I am deeply grateful for their resilience.
Driven by an innovative spirit, we embarked on a journey in early 2022 to become one of the first cooperatively owned veterinary hospitals in the nation. Thanks to the commitment of our team, CVC (Cooperative Veterinary Care – Mazomanie and Spring Green Animal Hospitals) became a reality in early 2023.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to all our clients for your unwavering support during this transition. A special thank you to the new owners – the doctors, technicians, assistants, and CSRs – who have enthusiastically embraced this cooperative model and are working diligently to ensure our small-town hospitals continue to thrive, providing each Owner an equal voice through democratic decision-making.
This month marks my 33rd year in the River Valley area. With the success of Cooperative Veterinary Care, I feel incredibly comfortable and excited to retire from veterinary medicine, confident that a strong, dedicated team is in place to continue providing exceptional care. Many of you have met Dr. Elizabeth Jacka, a veterinarian who has taught at the UW-Madison Veterinary School for many years and who has also worked in private practice in Madison and here at CVC the last few summers. She is excited to join the group full time starting next week and will more than fill in for my absence, adding more knowledge and enthusiasm in caring for your pets.
I will be spending the coming years advocating for worker owned cooperatives and focusing on working with my life partner and also-veterinarian, Dr. Ann Vetter, who has been, and will continue to be a vital contributor to the CVC team.
Ann and I have started a Regenerative / Sustainable agriculture demonstration project on some acreage near our home North of Mazomanie with the goal of improving the soil through multi-species rotational grazing using our beloved menagerie of 2 cows, 3 mustangs, a donkey, 20 goats, 2 pigs, 10 sheep, and chickens and bees. We are also planting dozens of varieties of fruit and nut trees, grazing and silvapastures, and natural prairie.
James Herriot's words from so long ago resonated deeply with me: veterinary medicine is a calling that involves caring for both animals and the people who love them.
Thank you all for your years of support and trust. While I prefer to stay out of the spotlight, I would be delighted to hear any memories or stories you might have from over the years.
Please know that I do not want any gifts. Your support past and present, and my happy memories over the years are more than enough. However, if you feel inclined to express your appreciation in any other way, I would be honored if you would consider:
- Making a donation to Eric or Tippers Helping Funds, which we created to assist pet owners in need (Venmo , donate through the link in the virtual card, or drop-off/mail in a donation to either clinic)
and/or
- The UW Center for Cooperatives, who were instrumental in our transition to a cooperatively owned business. Here is the LINK to UW Center for Cooperatives donation page.
Please rest assured that your beloved pets continue to be in kind and loving hands at Cooperative Veterinary Care- Mazomanie and Spring Green Animal Hospitals.
I'll leave you with the words that first inspired me.
All Creatures Great and Small,
All Thing Bright and Beautiful,
All Things Wise and Wonderful,
The Lord God Made Them All.
Be well, and take care of yourselves, your 4 legged friends, your 2 legged friends, family and neighbors, and this beautiful world we share.
Dr. John Dally
