Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Onoway Veterinary Clinic in Onoway! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets.
Please call us at 780-967-2967 to speak to one of our caring veterinary staff members.
Dr. David Cliplef grew up in Manitoba; having a love for animals he decided to pursue a career in the veterinary field. Dr. Cliplef graduated from The Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992, during which time he worked towards a residency in Avian and Exotic medicine from 1992 - 1994. He then came to Alberta in 1996 to pursue his career working in Veterinary medicine and he went on to purchase The Onoway Veterinary Clinic in 2004. He enjoys all aspects of working in a mixed animal practice, but he especially enjoys birds, elk & other exotic animals. In his spare time, Dr. Cliplef is an avid outdoors man and enjoys photography.
Dr. Tanya Knittig, DVM grew up in Southern Alberta on a cow/calf ranch. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a B. Sc in Agriculture before obtaining her Doctorate in 1999 from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Sk. She practiced in Camrose for just over a year and then moved to Barrhead. She worked at Barr-North Vet Clinic until 2019. She took a year retirement and then joined us here in Onoway in October 2020.
She and her family live in Barrhead and because of allergies they do not have any furry critters. This just means she loves to spend extra time with yours when she sees you in the clinic! Her hobbies include gardening and golf. Dr. Knittig has really enjoyed being back to practice and being part of the wonderful team at Onoway Veterinary Clinic.
Dr. Jackie Elgert grew up on a cattle farm in Rochester, AB. She attended both Grande Prairie Regional Collage and the University of Alberta prior to graduating with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Calgary in 2022. Dr. Elgert has a keen interest in large animal medicine but loves all aspect of mixed animal practice. She completed a practicum at Onoway Vet Clinic during her final year of vet school and decided it was a good place to start her career. Outside of work, Jackie enjoys playing sports as well as other outdoor activities including camping, hiking, and fishing with her black lab Reggie!
Dr. Nay grew up on a large mixed animal farm at Fallis, AB. Her family raised nearly everything from chickens to bison and she shared her parents love of caring for the pets and livestock as she pursued a career in Veterinary medicine. She received her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1992 from the University of Alberta. She then went on to The Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, SK, receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. Dr. Nay has been enjoying mixed animal practice at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic since graduation from vet school. She loves the variety of the work including dairy, beef, horse, small animal, a lot of pet pigs and nearly everything in between. Outside of work, Dr. Nay has 2 daughters that are active in 4H. They enjoy horses, showing cattle and their pets. Other interests are gardening, quilting, scrapbooking and training for triathlons. Dr. Nay has been a leader for the 4H Veterinary Science project since 2002. She likes mentoring students and hopes to inspire future veterinarians
Dr. Ileana grew up in St. Albert. She graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.Sc in Agriculture and then graduated from the University of Melbourne with her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2018. She started her career in mixed animal practice in Camrose. Dr. Berezanski joined the team at Onoway Veterinary Clinic at the beginning of this year. She loves how every day is different in veterinary medicine; the sunny afternoon farm calls, puppy appointments, and learning new things. In her spare time she likes to hike with her German shepherd, Amour!
Kim grew up on a farm in the Barrhead area. Growing up she had always had a love for animals, both big and small, which prompted her to become an RVT. She attended NAIT- Fairview Campus, graduating in 2006. She has been working at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic since 2006 and took on the role of practice manager in 2013. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband and their flock of sheep and watching movies while cuddling their cats, Simba and Kiara. Kim also enjoys crosswords and baking.
Tasha grew up on a Morgan horse breeding farm by Seba Beach AB. Her love of animals led to a BSc with a major in zoology and a minor in primatology from UofC in 2014. She then worked in a small animal practice in Edmonton for 4 years before going back to school to graduate as an RVT from Nait in 2018.
After doing her practicum with Onoway vet clinic she decided mixed practice was the place for her. She enjoys the variety of animals that come through the door, not knowing what you get to work on next. She has a special interest in all things large animal and exotics. Anything odd and unusual immediately peaks her interest.
Apart from working at the clinic, Tasha keeps busy with her new baby, and running her and her husband's cow/calf and pig operation in the Keephills area.
A farm girl from Manitoba, Val made the likely transition after the completion of the Fairview College Animal Health Technology course in 1993, to practice in a mixed animal veterinary clinic. Val did her college practicum at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic, worked one year at the Stony Plain Veterinary Clinic and was offered a job back at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic, and the rest, as we say, is history. Within the practice, Val loves the diversity, continual learning, the fast work pace, but her heart lies with the large animals.
While still in clinical practice, starting in 2005, she had the privilege of instructing Veterinary Medical Receptionist and Animal Health Technologists programs and worked for the three of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Associations accredited Animal Health Technologist colleges in Alberta. When at Lakeland College she prepared course content and instructed the first Veterinary Medical Receptionist program out of Sherwood Park. At Olds College, she was one of the initial instructors who helped setup, provide course content and instructed the Online Animal Health Technology program and instructed the Veterinary Medical Receptionists and Animal Health Technologist students on side. Again at the Northern Institute for Technologist (NAIT) Val has instructed the Veterinary Medical Receptionists, the Animal Health Technologists and was a key provider for the content and set up for the first Production Animal Ultrasound Pregnancy Detection Course (which is still awaiting course delivery approval).
Aside from working part time at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic, Val does contract porcine work, is currently teaching courses for the Veterinary Practice Management Certificate Online Course for Olds College, and sits on the Human Resource Committee for the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.
One of Val’s career highlights was being honoured as the recipient of the Canadian Animal Health Technologist of the Year Award in 2014.
Besides continuing to invest her time and skill in the veterinary industry, Val along with her husband Devin and her two sons Brock and Bennett also spend time raising Gelbvieh cross cattle on their family ranch.
It’s a great time for Registered Veterinary Technologists, especially in advancement!
Annette is getting back to her RVT career after spending the past 15 years at home managing their household and farm. Annette and her husband Shaun have three kids, Hunter, Tanner and Tyler; all are active in 4H and sports.
Annette graduated from NAIT in 1997 with her Animal Health Technology Diploma. She also gained her BSc from Concordia University. Annette began her RVT career working for Alberta Agricultural, first in the swine research department, then moving into the pathology department as a post-mortem technician.
Annette grew up on a farm in Northern Alberta and was very involved in beef 4H. Once her kids were old enough, they all started 4H. Annette is currently the beef and foods leader of Duffield 4H. She is passionate about 4H and all the great things it provides to the members.
Annette loves cows and all things that support local agriculture.
Lindsey grew up with a love for animals and has been interested in a veterinary career from a young age, even participating in Dr. Nay’s 4H veterinary science project. This lead her to pursue a BSc in Animal Health at the University of Alberta. She takes a keen interest in horses, dogs, beef, and dairy cattle and looks forward to continuing her education in veterinary medicine. Lindsey has spent time working in a small animal clinic and an equine practice before coming to the Onoway Veterinary Clinic to pursue her interests in a mixed-animal practice. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys riding her horse and participating in obedience and agility classes with her dog, Riley.
Jackie is an RVT here at the clinic. She grew up on a mixed animal farm near Morinville. In 1998 she graduated from the AHT program at NAIT and came to work at the Onoway Veterinary Clinic in 1999. Her favourite part of working in a mixed animal practice is seeing baby animals, especially calves. She currently lives on a sheep farm with her husband and children. In her free time she enjoys reading and being outside. See Less
Michelle grew up in a military family. She was born in Ontario and spent some time in Germany growing up before landing in Alberta. She attended college in Lethbridge for Communication Arts then headed to Grande Prairie where she became involved with Search and Rescue, obtaining her EMR training and eventually got into a career in oilfield Safety. Michelle moved to Onoway in 2017 with her husband and youngest of 3 children to be closer to family. She joined the Onoway Veterinary team in January of 2019 as receptionist and is thrilled to be working with the various types of animals that come through the clinic. Michelle feels that every day is a new adventure when working in a mixed animal practice such as ours. She has two dogs, Cinder and Sniper, and a cat named Monkey-Jo.
As the daughter of Dr. Cliplef, Morgan has been around animals inside and outside of the clinic her whole life. She and her family live on a farm, allowing them to have a wide assortment of critters. She enjoys working with all animals, but she especially enjoys exotics. In her spare time, Morgan enjoys being outside, crocheting, and spending time with family. Morgan also spends a lot of time taking care of her pets; including her dog Max (pictured below,) tortoises, chinchillas, gerbils, rabbits, birds, cats, fish, and a guinea pig. In the future, Morgan hopes to become an RVT.
Sarah grew up near Olds, Alberta, having a love for being outside with their farm animals. In 2015, she graduated from the AHT program at Lakeland college, and has been a tech in mixed animal practice ever since. She has a passion for large animals, but is excited to gain experience with exotics. Sarah and her boyfriend Curtis live near Onoway, running their 30 head, cow calf operation. In addition to the cattle, they also have 2 horses, chickens, ducks turkeys, cats, and 2 dogs, named Rambo and Meadow. In her spare time she enjoys working with Girl Guides, her favorite parts of this are taking girls camping and learning more about the outdoors. As well, she likes curling, being outside, cooking, and baking.
Kendelle is from Onoway area and actually graduated from high school here. She always loved working with animals and helped out on many types of large animal farms in the area growing up. Kendelle went to school at Nait and graduated as an Animal Health Technician in 2019 while at the same time working at a dairy milking cows.. She became a Registered Veterinary Technician a few months later and has been working with us since she graduated. She loves that, while working in a mixed animal practice you can go from doing a calving one minute to helping out with small animal surgery the next. She currently lives in St. Albert with her cat Suga and likes skating, going for hikes, and listening to music in her free time.
Kara grew up on an acreage in Grande Prairie with such a large variety of pets the list is too long to write!
Spending the majority of her time with her furry, feathered, and scaly friends, led Kara to the Animal Health Program where she graduated in 2012.
She has a passion for exotic medicine and is thrilled to help any critter in need! Rescuing and rehoming…mainly to her own home, haha.
Kara enjoys filling her time by adventuring with her husband Sean, son Elliott, and their German shepherd Watson. A day can never go by without cuddles with their four cats; Saphira, Leia, Sherlock, and Mycroft, and chatting with her cockatiel Rousey.
When she finds any spare time, she enjoys painting, playing ringette and kayaking.
Lindee grew up on a cow/calf farm in McBride, BC. Loving the rural lifestyle and having a passion for animals led her to take the animal health technology program at Olds College, graduating as an RVT in 2012.
After college she worked in a different rural mixed animal practice before starting work at the Onoway Vet Clinic in 2013. She enjoys the variety of animals that come through the door, not knowing what you get to work on next.
Apart from working at the clinic, Lindee keeps busy with two young kids, working as a registered massage therapist, and running her and her husband's cow/calf operation in the Onoway area.
Jennifer grew up on a farm near Bon Accord and Legal and later moved to St. Albert in junior high . Growing up she spent a great deal of time at the Alberta wildlife park as her mom worked there and she has always had a love for animals. Jennifer joined the Onoway Veterinary Clinic in 2013. She temporarily left for about 2 years and came back last October. She is very happy to be back and enjoys seeing all of the clinic’s wonderful clients again. In her spare time she enjoys going for walks with her daughter and dogs and enjoys playing badminton recreationally.
Darcie is a Registered Veterinary Technologist who grew up on a mixed farm near Tomahawk. She graduated from the Veterinary Technology program at Fairview College in 1991 and has been working in mixed animal practice ever since, including practices in Wetaskiwin and Stony Plain.
Darcie moved to this area after marrying a local farmer, then joined the Onoway Veterinary Clinic in 2000.
She has spent some time as as practice manager in each vet clinic she has worked in and currently teaches at NAIT in the animal studies programs, but her heart always brings her back to working with the animals in mixed animal practice.
The variety of animals is exciting and working with people willing to help any kind of animal is so rewarding.
Darcie and her family still farm near Onoway and have cattle, horses, dogs, cats and rabbits and raise the grain and hay to feed them.
Karen's love for animals started at at a very young age. She has always been a caregiver, and she likes to soak up as much knowledge about animal health and surgery as possible. She spent the last 3 years in a busy small animal clinic. Karen came to us to get experience working with large animals, and to expand her knowledge of herd health. Her passion is with horses. She 4 horses, 3 dogs and 3 cats; four of them were strays she adopted. Karen loves that every day is different at the clinic. She keeps a busy schedule with her husband either at the lake skiing or wake boarding, at a ski hill, dog agility with their son, or horse shows and rugby with their daughter. Her down time is filled by her four horses and she feels the most relaxed and is in her happy place when she is on a horse! A fun fact about Karen: she owns a hair studio in her home.
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