Meet the Staff
From Left to Right: Dr. Nicholson, Dr. Capitan, Dr. Velsko, Bre Keller, Rick Shelly, Rebecca Metheny, Dr. Basler, Pam Basler, Erin Martie
Patty Calonder, Charlotte Anderson, Alicia Watkins, Jamie Blakeslee, Lena Shuck, Kaylee Ault, Kim Riggs, Ryan Basler
Dr. Jon Basler - Owner/Hospital Director After assuming ownership in 1998, Dr. Basler focused the clinic on its core principles: high-quality health care and building personal relationships between clients, their pets and our doctors. His message has been well received and rewarded with consistent yearly growth in our client base. Our most recent accomplishments include modernizing the Electronic Medical Records and installing a new, state-of-the-art Digital X-ray Radiography system.
Dr. Basler’s passion for veterinary medicine that was sparked by owning “dozens” of fish tanks in high school. His job at a tropical fish store helped “fund his fish habit.” Dealing with the fish medical issues both at the store and at home honed his interest in biology and medicine leading to a degree in Animal Biology and acceptance to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University. He subsequently graduated with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from WSU in 1985 and moved with his wife, Pamela, to her home state of Alaska. After two years of practice at East Anchorage Veterinary Hospital, he embarked on a three-year adventure in Barrow, Alaska where his duties included traditional companion animal veterinary medicine but also duties as diverse as animal control, public health issues (water testing, restaurant inspections, rabies vaccinations) and assisting wild life research along with monthly trips to remote arctic villages of the North Slope Borough.
The birth of his first son, Eric, in 1990 brought Dr. Basler back to Anchorage to begin a career at College Village Animal Clinic. Dr. Basler now has three sons: Eric, Ryan and Jack, a golden retriever named Alyeska and a grey-black chinchilla named Smokey. He is active in his church and a s a leader in Boy Scouts, plays volleyball and is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys skiing, backpacking and fishing in Alaska’s great outdoors.
Dr. Basler is both actively involved and well respected in the veterinary community. He is currently Alaska’s Representative to the American Veterinary Medical Association, sits on the Board of Directors of Pet Emergency, Inc. (an Anchorage veterinary cooperative designed to provide 24/7 emergency care for pets) and is a past President of the Alaska Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Basler particularly enjoys treating dogs, cats, caged pets and birds. He directs clinic operations and is especially interested in diagnostic medicine, challenging soft tissue surgery and advanced dentistry, including endodontics.
Dr. Alison Capitan – Associate Veterinarian Dr. Capitan hails from a small town in central Indiana. Growing up she was never without an animal companion of some sort. Her first cat came wrapped up as a Christmas present under the tree. “Christopher Long Legs”, a male tabby, was in that box. Many more pets soon followed. These pets meant many trips to her local veterinary clinic. Thus began Dr. Capitan’s interest in veterinary medicine. In the second grade, Dr. Capitan announced she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up. Her mother assumed it was just a fleeting thought, but Dr. Capitan continued with that goal through high school and college.
While attending high school and college, Dr. Capitan worked and volunteered in different veterinary clinics that saw small and exotic animals. As an undergraduate at Purdue University, Dr. Capitan divided her time between class, marching band, School of Science student council, and her pre-vet club. She was an active member in each club serving different leadership roles in each. As a college junior, Purdue University accepted Dr. Capitan to join the School of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2002. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Purdue in 1999 and continued on to receive her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2002.
As a senior veterinary student, Dr. Capitan took the opportunity to work with many different exotic animals in addition to her small and large animal rotations. She worked with the Indianapolis Zoo, Sea World of Orlando, Discovery Cove, Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic in Indianapolis, and the Alaska Sea Life Center. Her time spent in Seward, Alaska spurred her move to Eagle River, Alaska after graduation.
Dr. Capitan began her veterinary career at VCA Eagle River Animal Hospital in 2002. There she combined the knowledge she learned in school with the practical knowledge of her mentors. She continued to see small and exotic animals, but also became more interested and skilled in surgery. In September 2008, Dr. Capitan and her family moved back to Indianapolis for a surgical internship at VCA Veterinary Specialty Center. October 2009 brought Dr. Capitan back to Alaska with a vast knowledge of orthopedic and soft tissue surgery techniques.
Dr. Capitan joined College Village Animal Clinic in May, 2011. In addition to working with canines and felines, Dr. Capitan also enjoys working with small mammals and exotics. She is especially interested in expanding the clinic’s services in the area of orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries.
Dr. Capitan lives in east Anchorage with her husband, Rich, her son, Ethan, her daughter, Eva, and her many pets: Georgio, a boxer mix, Mr. Lee, a pug, Carl, an orange tabby, Francis, a grey tabby, Mathilda, a cockatiel, and Zeke, a leopard gecko. In her spare time she enjoys camping, hiking, sewing, and watching her kids laugh.
Dr. Peter Nicholson – Associate Veterinarian Dr. Nicholson joined the staff of College Village Animal Clinic in 2002. Growing up in suburban Michigan, Dr. Nicholson’s early interest in animals began at a young age when the family got a dog. That interest grew and eventually the family wound up with a house full of his reptiles, fish and a second-hand chinchilla. Despite several family members deeply ingrained fear of snakes, Dr. Nicholson’s parents encouraged his interest in reptiles since it was about the only thing that would make him read a book in grade school. This well intentioned encouragement over the years resulted in the acquisition of several large snakes, of which three temporarily escaped. Only one of these escapes was his fault.
The childhood fascination with animals led Peter to study zoology at the University of Maine, where he concentrated in fisheries biology and ecology. After graduation Dr. Nicholson worked for several years in New England doing fisheries field research and briefly considered trying to become a sea turtle biologist prior to working in the veterinary field. Dr. Nicholson completed his D.V.M. at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island in 2002 before moving to Alaska.
Dr. Nicholson currently lives in Anchorage with his wife and children, as well as two lizards, a few rescued snakes, some fish and his “legendary” dog Hooper.
Dr. Alice Velsko-Raidmae – Associate Veterinarian Dr. Velsko-Raidmae’s love for animals began at an early age, so early she named her first pet cat before she learned her animals, resulting in the poor tabby being called Puppy! She spent her childhood loving and caring for a wide-variety of pets including boxed turtles, two cats, chickens and a retired Iditarod sled dog named Goldie.
In addition to canines and felines, Dr. Velsko-Raidmae enjoys working with a wide variety of animal species. She completed a marine mammal and bird rehabilitation externship at the Alaska Sea Life Center prior to vet school and an externship at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle during her final year of veterinary school.
In June, 2009 Dr. Velsko-Raidmae joined the staff at College Village Animal Clinic as an associate veterinarian. Her special interests include small mammals (including guinea pigs, rabbits and ferrets) and dentistry. She recently completed a 3-day intensive course at the Animal Dental Training Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Her personal mission as a veterinarian is “to be as thorough as possible, do the utmost to be compassionate towards pets, prevent pain, and to be understanding of the uniqueness of each pet owners situation.”
Dr. Velsko-Raidmae lives in east Anchorage with her husband Olin, her cat Leroy and her three guinea pigs: Penny, Ruble and Rupee. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, camping and cross country skiing.
Dr. Pamela Tuomi has been seeing patients at College Village Animal Clinic since 1971 and passed ownership of the clinic to Dr. Basler in 1998. She continues to provide services and perform relief work at the clinic, but now spends most of her time in Seward as the Senior Veterinarian at the Alaska SeaLife Center. She is internationally known for her work in marine animal medicine and oiled wildlife response. She is actively involved in research, education, and rehabilitation programs and has travelled to places as far as Antarctica for research work. At College Village Animal Clinic, Dr. Tuomi enjoys providing expertise in companion animal preventative health care, soft tissue surgery, and treatment and care of caged birds and small pets.
Alicia Watkins, LVT, obtained her Associate’s Degree in Veterinary Technology from Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington in 2005. She had a lifelong dream of working with animals and started working at College Village Animal Clinic shortly after her return to Alaska in 2005. She is highly interested in the medical aspects of the field and particularly enjoys monitoring surgery and anesthesia. Alicia enjoys spending time with her dog, cat, two ferrets, and rat.