Northwoods Pet Care Center

Northwoods Pet Care Center is a full-service veterinary medical facility, located in Mt Pleasant, MI. The professional and courteous staff at Northwoods Pet Care Center seeks to provide the best possible medical care, surgical care and dental care for their highly-valued patients.

We are committed to promoting responsible pet ownership, preventative health care and health-related educational opportunities for our clients. Northwoods Pet Care Center strives to offer excellence in veterinary care to Mt Pleasant, MI and surrounding areas.

Please take a moment to contact us today, to learn more about our veterinary practice and to find out more information about how Northwoods Pet Care Center can serve the needs of you and your cherished pet.

2188 Independence Dr
Mt Pleasant, MI 48858
Phone: 989-775-3900
Fax: 989-775-2935
Email Us

M-T-Th-Fri: 8:00AM - 5:00PM
Wed: 8:00AM - 7:00PM
Sat: 8:00AM - 12:00PM
Sun: 11:00AM - 11:30AM
Sun: 6:00PM - 6:30PM

William M Kolesar, DVM

Dr. Kolesar graduated from Michigan State University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. He began his veterinary career right after graduation working in an all equine practice. Later he would expand his large animal experience working in a mixed animal practice. Throughout the years, Dr. Kolesar began to concentrate his practice caring for companion animals including dogs, cats, pocket pets and exotics. In 1999 he opened Northwoods Pet Care Center along with his wife Julie who is a licensed Veterinary Technician. It was Dr. Kolesar’s goal to build a high quality veterinary practice, providing his patients with compassionate, humane, quality medical care, and thoroughly providing the clients with the knowledge to make the best decisions for their pet's health care. Not only decisions regarding sick or injured pets, but also in preventive health care, giving pets a long and happy life. Dr. Kolesar has been interested in Veterinary Medicine since he was a kid. He has owned a wide variety of pets over the years including a pet duck named Jose’ (ask him about it). He became interested in training field dogs for retrieving titles. In the past, he and his wife were part of the Flat - Coated Retriever Society of America and took on showing, field training and breeding of flat coats. Since then they have been busy raising and enjoying their children Lindsay, Justin and Kyle in Mt. Pleasant. Dr. Kolesar still enjoys his retrievers and shares his house with a yellow lab named Spirit, and a black lab with lots of energy named Kyna. Let's not forget about Snickers, the “Best Kitty" in the whole world.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 1987

Education:

Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine class of 1987
Anneka Owen, DVM

Dr. Owen is originally from Mt. Pleasant, MI. She has recently joined our team as an Associate Veterinarian. She graduated with a BA in Marine Biology from the University of Hawaii in December 2005. She then attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in January 2012. She enjoys several outdoor activities including horseback riding, hiking and downhill skiing. She has two wonderful companions, a Doberman Pinscher named Poenike and a rescue cat named Anela.

Years in Practice:

Mar 28, 2012

Education:

Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine
Pogo

Meet the true "boss" at Northwoods Pet CareCenter. According to Pogo, she rules and everyone else drools. She is 9 years old and has lived at the clinic since she was 5 weeks of age. No wonder she thinks she's the boss.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 1999
Julie, Office Manager

Julie is married to Dr. Kolesar and together they opened the doors of Northwoods Pet Center in 1999. She received her degree as a Licensed Veterinary Technician in 1982. In 1987 she earned her bachelors degree in Medical Technology at Michigan State University and worked in this field until she moved to Mt. Pleasant with her husband in 1992. Julie chose to devote her time to raising their children until they opened the doors of Northwoods Pet Care Center. She had the same vision as her husband of building a veterinary clinic which provides compassionate, high quality, medical care to their patients. She mostly manages the office duties at the clinic but enjoys it when she is able to use her technical skills and work with the animals. Julie is also one of our wonderful groomers, and she is great at it!

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 1999
Vickie, Assistant Office Manager

Vickie is our reception and assistant office manager. There probably is not a client that has not been graciously greeted by Vickie as they enter our clinic. Her bubbly personality and genuinely caring attitude make our clients feel right at home. We often tease Vickie that she could moonlight as a bartender since she often finds herself listening to peoples' concerns both with their pets and personally. Vickie has been with us for over ten years. Even though her previous work experience was in the dental field, she has become quite knowledgeable about veterinary health care, and plays a big roll in client education at the clinic. Vickie enjoys spending time with her husband Bruce and daughter Arielle along with dogs Minnie, Doc and Blue.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 2000
Lisa, Veterinary Technician

Lisa started working at Northwoods in spring of 2006. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelors degree in Veterinary Technology in 2005 and is a great asset to our team. Lisa’s bright smile and easy going personality make clients feel comfortable and able to ask any questions they need to. She enjoys spending time with her husband Chris and daughters Hailey and Morgan, as well as Dory the dachshund and their cat Rigby. Lisa’s interests include scrap booking and crocheting.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 2006
Kelly, Veterinary Technician

Kelly has been with us since spring of 2006. Despite being from Michigan originally, she has adapted that “southern hospitality” attitude after living in Louisiana for several years. She frequently greets clients with a “how ya’ll doin” as she enthusiastically enters an exam room. Her great attitude and sincere personality makes her excel as a client educator. Kelly enjoys spending her free time working with her two Certified Therapy Dogs Ryder and Daphne. She also has the most adorable Chihuahua Rippy, and her cats Edie Brit, Kalvin and India.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 2006
Kara, Veterinary Assistant

Kara has worked on our team since August of 2008 as a Veterinary Assistant/Kennel Manager. She recently earned her bachelors degree at CMU in Business Management. She hopes to attend the MSU Veterinary Technology Program in the future. Ever since childhood, Kara knew she wanted to work with animals. In her free time she enjoys camping, snowmobiling and spending time with her family. Kara has four fantastic dogs; Jaxson, Hank, Millie and Bella as well as her sweet kitty Trouper. Her leadership skills and love for animals has made her a valuable part of our team.

Years in Practice:

Aug 07, 2008
Shirley, Veterinary Assistant

Shirley Ann (a.k.a. Sam) has worked at Northwoods since July of 2009 as a Veterinary Assistant /Kennel Supervisor. When not working here she keeps busy working with her Newfoundland, Madison (a.k.a. Maddie) who is a certified therapy dog. Sam is a member of the Great Lakes Newfoundland Club and is currently training Maddie to pull a cart for draft tests. She also loves playing Frisbee with her lab Cassie and taking her for long walks in the woods. She enjoys photography, and curling up with Maddie and Cassie to read a good book.

Years in Practice:

Jul 07, 2009
Kristen, Veterinary Assistant

Kristen has worked at Northwoods since February of 2009. She is currently attending CMU and has recently changed her major to Pre-Vet. Outside of school and work she keeps busy with her very energetic Siberian Husky, Kobi, as well as her Pomeranian, Willie, her Pitbull, Judge and her Potbellied Pig, Pixie. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs and watching them make new friends.

Years in Practice:

Jan 31, 2009
Elyssa, Groomer

Elyssa graduated from Paragon School of Pet Grooming in January of 2008. Clients and Pets often respond warmly to Elyssa's kindness and fantastic grooming skills. She enjoys spending time with her husband and playing with her St. Bernard, Boone and her Chihuahua, Bam Bam. She also enjoys hunting.

Years in Practice:

Apr 07, 2008
Anna, Veterinary Assistant

Anna joined the Northwoods team in the summer of 2011. She is currently working on her bachelors degree as a pre-vet student, and hopes to pursue a career in equine veterinary medicine through Michigan State University. Anna is a member of the British Horse Society and enjoys learning many disciplines of horse riding. For fun, she likes to go camping, trail riding, hunting, fishing, running with her dog "Koda" and enjoys the outdoors.

Years in Practice:

Jun 01, 2011
Jacob, Veterinary Assistant

Jacob joined the Northwoods team in September 2011. He currently attends Central Michigan University and plans to attend Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in the fall of 2012. He is actively involved with the CMU Pre-Vet Club and his fraternity Beta Theta Pi. He enjoys spending time with his 10 year old Basset Hound named "Loafer".

Years in Practice:

Sep 01, 2011
Ashlee, Veterinary Assistant

Ashlee joined Northwoods during the fall of 2011. She is currently studying pre-veterinary medicine at Central Michigan University. She hopes to attend Michigan State University or the University of North Carolina in the future. Ashlee enjoys riding and showing her horse "Sam". She also enjoys spending time outdoors and going for runs with her boxer "Nemo".

Years in Practice:

Sep 01, 2011