Madeline Mitchell
Registered Veterinary Nurse
Having a dad who is a veterinarian, Maddie practically grew up in an animal clinic. Not only did her father have his own practice, but he also cared for the animals at the Hutch Zoo, where his daughter would routinely accompany him as well. That experience, coupled with the fact that she had every pet imaginable at home, made a career in the animal care industry a natural choice for Maddie.
Initially, Maddie set out to become a zookeeper. Upon finishing school in Buhler, she moved to Tennessee where she graduated from Union University with a bachelor's degree in zoology. After completing several internships around the country, no job opportunities really panned out, so she decided to enroll in nursing school at WSU Tech instead. She never expected to fall in love with the clinical side of animal care, but now she says she’d never go back!
Maddie first discovered Hodes Veterinary Health Center while attending the nursing program. She did an externship for eight weeks and in 2022, after graduating and passing her national and state boards, she came back to join the team full time. Clinically, she loves working in an environment that promotes learning, teaching, and growth. She’s always enjoyed working with exotics but has now also grown to love working with large animals as well!
At home, Maddie is outnumbered in a family of boys, including her husband, Sam, two Savannah cats named Jack and Junior, a European Doberman named Ghost, and most recently a standard Australian shepherd named Echo. A self-professed geek, Maddie loves reading fantasy and sci-fi books (the bigger the better) and enjoys playing video games, D&D, and board games with friends. When she’s not reading or gaming, she likes watching TV, playing outside with the pups, traveling, and going to concerts.
A few fun facts about Maddie: she is a classically trained ballerina of over 15 years, was heavily involved in color guard as both a student and a coach and played the bass clarinet. One of her life goals is to travel to another country to help with animal conservation – anywhere from Africa with cheetahs, to Papua New Guinea with tree kangaroos, or to Australia with all their cool reptiles.