Vet Clinic bids farewell to Dr. Petro

CRESCO - Workers and customers at Harmony & Cresco Vet Clinic bid farewell to Dr. Erin Petro recently. The public was invited to wish Dr. Petro well at a reception at Cresco Vet Clinic.

Petro joined Harmony & Cresco Veterinary Clinic three years ago.

“I came here after moving from Florida,” she said. “I’m originally from Oklahoma. After I graduated veterinary school, I joined the Air Force and was on active duty for three years and did public health in Florida. I wanted to do private practice, so I came here with the goal of doing large animal medicine. That is what I did at first when I came here. Then, I  started doing small animal. For the past eight months, I’ve done exclusively small animal.”

Now, Dr. Petro is moving, returning to school and pursuing another career path.

“I am going to Kansas City. I’m going to go back to school to get my Master’s degree in public health, infection and zoonotic diseases, so more of the academic side. I will probably do clinic work part-time while I’m going to school. After I graduate, the long-term goal is to work with emerging zoonotic diseases.”

She explains the field of study:

 “It will be the interface of humans and animals. About 70 percent of our emerging diseases are zoonotic diseases passed from animals to humans. 

She said veterinarians are often cognizant of trends in emerging animal diseases.

“If we see a rise in Lyme Disease in animals, we can predict a rise in Lyme Disease in humans,” she said.

Meanwhile, Petro recalls memorable moments during her time at Harmony &  Cresco Veterinary Clinic.

“I had only been here a couple of months and was doing large animal care at the time. When we do emergency duties, we are required to do both large and small animal work. 

“We had a dog come in that was really sick. She had a life-threatening uterine infection so she needed emergency surgery. It was 7 p.m. so I found Dr. Norman and I asked him to help me do a surgery. So he and another doctor came, and we did the surgery. The dog just bounced back so fast, and I thought, ‘Wow! I saved her life.’ She was 100 times better the next day, got to go home and is doing well.”

Dr. Petro also recalls smaller but no-less-meaningful moments.

“I remember having an older, arthritic dog come in, and I recommended starting it on pain medication. The owners came back one month later and said he was playing ball again like he did when he was a puppy and climbing the stairs without pain. It’s a completely different dog. So, it is nice to have those  kinds of impacts, too.”

Dr. Petro would like to thank the communities of Cresco and Harmony, Minnesota for their hospitality. 

“I live in Harmony, and I’ve felt welcomed there and when I come to work at the Cresco clinic, this community has been a friendly and welcoming place,” she said.