About the Can-Am Races

Photo by Paul Cyr

Veterinarian Director

Dr. Nick Pesut graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1982. He has practiced at the Presque Isle Animal Hospital in Presque Isle, Maine since 1984, and he and his wife Andrea have owned the practice since 1991. Nick has worked at every Can-Am Crown as a trail vet, and this will be his sixteenth year as chief veterinarian. He has also worked the Eagle Lake 100 since its inception. Nick's greatest enjoyment at these sled dog races has been meeting and working with some wonderful people from the volunteers to the mushers and the veterinary staff.

Nick is a member of the AVMA, and MVMA. Veterinary medicine has been a great profession for Nick, and the Can-Am Crown races have been among his most enjoyable veterinary experiences.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Jen Mirecki grew up in southern Maine and promptly came back to Maine after spending 4 years in the Midwest earning her veterinary degree from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014. She has experience in farm animal medicine, general practice, and ER.  Dr. Mirecki currently works as an emergency veterinarian and medical director in the midcoast area of Maine. She attended her first CanAm race in 2017 as part of the veterinary team and was hooked! With the guidance of Dr. Nick Pesut she transitioned into the role of Chief Trail Veterinarian for CanAm and plans to continue serving on the veterinary team annually. Dr. Mirecki is a member of the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association (ISDVMA), Maine Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA), Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (VECCS), and the American Veterinary Association (AVMA).

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Anne Tareila (Dr. Annie) is a small animal veterinarian who lives and works in Aroostook county. She has been in the area for about five years and this is the third time she is helping with CanAm.

She is originally from Connecticut, spent some time in Pennsylvania for college and attended LSU SVM in Louisiana for veterinary school. She has taught veterinary medicine overseas in Thailand through Loop Abroad and in Honduras through Christian Veterinary Mission. Her interests in trying new things in veterinary medicine and meeting and working with new people helped lead her to sled dog races.

When she is not working she enjoys spending time with her husband and young son on their property, participating in events with their local church, and traveling to visit family and friends.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Morrissey graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 1983 with B.Vet. Sci. and DVM degrees. A small animal practitioner, she has owned the North County Veterinary Clinic in Greenfield, MA since 1991. Dr. Morrissey has a special interest in canine reproduction and canine sports medicine. She gets great enjoyment seeing dogs do the jobs for which they were bred and trained for. She is interested in all aspects of dog sledding from driving her dogs recreationally to working on race vet teams. Dr. Morrissey has been part of most of the Can Am veterinary teams since 2000 and has also worked the 2009 Beargrease and the Great Trail sled dog race and has been the Chief Vet for the Sandwich Notch 60 races and in 2010 was the Chief Vet for the South African Dryland Sledding Association’s Inaugural Sled Dog events in Colesburg, South Africa. A member of the ISDVMA and AVMA. She is the Eastern Representative of the SHCA's Working Pack Dog Program and she is the past Board member and the Genetics Chairman for the Siberian Husky Club of America (SHCA), having served for over 10 years in both capacities. She is married and has two sons. In her spare time as well as running her dogs recreationally, she hikes with her dogs and shows them in obedience and rally obedience and her older son shows them in breed competition.

Trail Veterinarian

Laurie Dunbar is a small animal general practitioner and surgeon in Montréal, and a Certified Rehabilitation Practitioner with over 20 years of experience. Laurie has a special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of pain and musculoskeletal disease in dogs. With her rehabilitation team, she treats sporting and pet dogs for a variety of conditions in order to improve not only their performance but also their quality of life. Laurie has a passion for sled dogs and the North, and takes every opportunity to learn from mushers and other trail/race veterinarians. A member of the International Sled dog Veterinary Medical Association, she has worked as a trail veterinarian in the Défi Taiga, the Can-Am Crown, the Purina Stage Stop and the Yukon Quest and is the lead veterinarian for the Chic Chocs race in Québec. She is excited to work once again with the terrific Can Am team.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. McConnell lives down south these days, but their northern roots mean a trip to the valley most winters. Dr. McConnell is coming back for their tenth Can-Am this year. As a member of the ISDVMA, Dr. McConnell enjoys working with mushers and their dogs on the trail as well as practicing their French when they can.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Jennifer Eckenrode, CCRT has been a veterinarian for 15 years and practices in Pennsylvania. She graduated Colorado State University in 2010. In 2017 she became a certified canine rehabilitation therapist (CCRT).  This is her second year on the Cam Am veterinary team. Her passion is pain management, but she loves working with sport/working dogs and patients with neurological conditions through rehabilitation therapy. 

Trail Veterinarian

Hi I'm Vanessa Cheng, I come from the land down under! I am an Australian working in Manhattan at the veterinary emergency group. I graduated from Massey university in 2016, spent two years in mixed animal practice in Australia with cattle and sheep and then transitioned into emergency medicine in America. This will be my first time at CanAm, but it has always been a dream of mine to volunteer for a sled dog race! 

Trail Veterinarian

Ken Fisher,DVM hails from Pittsburgh, PA where he has practiced for over 20 years as a small animal veterinarian. This will mark his fourth year volunteering with the Can-Am Vet Team. When he’s not working with animals, he enjoys winter sports, hiking, and playing guitar.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Cindy A. Fuhs is a recently retired large animal veterinarian who owned and operated her own practice, Still River Veterinary Services, in the Bolton Massachusetts area. Dr. Fuhs provided general medical and surgical and emergency services to her equine, bovine, small ruminant and camelid patients for 17 years until she sold her practice in 2019. Cindy has a long-standing keen interest in the sport of sled dog racing, and has been volunteering as a Trail Veterinarian with the Can Am since 2002. She looks forward to returning to Fort Kent every March as the highlight of her winter season. Dr. Fuhs is also a past President of the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and an avid fundraiser for cancer research through her annual participation in the Pan-Mass Challenge, the single largest bicycling charity event in the United States dedicated to supporting work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Blakeley Murrell-Liland followed her father into veterinary medicine graduating from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada in 2003. In 2006 she decided to return to her roots and the small animal veterinary practice her father founded in Woodstock, Vermont, where she has been ever since.

Blakeley has a passion for sled dogs and all things northern. A member of the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association, she was on the Vet team at Chic Chocs in 2023 and this will be her 7th year in Fort Kent - she is very excited to return to work with the amazing Can-Am team.

When she is not practicing veterinary medicine, she can be found outside biking, hiking or snow shoeing, in her kitchen preparing something to share with others, knitting and reading or planning her next adventure with her two sons - the further north the better!

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Whitlow attended Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 2012. She then moved to Connecticut where she has worked in several small animal general practices and worked towards her goal of becoming certified in rehabilitation. She attended the Canine Rehabilitation Institute and obtained her CCRT in 2020. For the last 7 months she has been doing canine rehabilitation only. She has also spent time doing dolphin and sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation in Florida and equine embryo transfer work in Belgium. She grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York and showed Morgan horses.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Booth completed a B.S. in Animal Science and D.V.M. at U. C., Davis in 1992, a residency in anatomic veterinary pathology at Harvard School of Medicine in 1998, and a Ph. D. in cell signaling in pathology concurrent with a research fellowship in cardiovascular pathology at U. W., Seattle in 2005 and somehow fit in 3 children along the way. Outside of her work in diagnostic and research veterinary pathology in the Department of Comparative Medicine in the Yale University School of Medicine, she has always worked as a small animal clinical veterinarian. She fell in love with the New England when she was a research intern at the Jackson Laboratory in, Bar Harbor, ME. She volunteers her time and expertise on research project trying to solve devastating genetic diseases in pet dogs. She has been active in dogs and AKC competitions since the 1980's. She shares her life with 9 Chow Chows, and an ancient rescue rat terrier. She has competed with in conformation, obedience, and rally competitions and previously with her Chesapeake Bay Retrievers in hunt tests. Her breeding program focuses on temperament, health, and structural soundness. Prior to the pandemic she has been active doing therapy dog work in the local community. She is an avid hydrangea collector and spend her free time gardening, training dogs, and playing the clarinet in the regional symphonic bands. When she actually sits down she always working on something with yarn. She has previously volunteered as a trail vet for the Iditarod and this will be her first-time volunteering as a veterinarian for the Can-Am Sled Dog Race. She is looking forward to continuing to work with these amazing canine athletes and the dedicated veterinarians, mushers, and volunteers who make these races possible.

Trail Veterinarian

Dr. Kate Domenico is originally from Chicago.  She attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 2004.  During her career, Dr. Domenico has focused on soft tissue surgery, practice management, emergency and critical care.  In addition to her full-time work at Portland Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care -as a Emergency and Critical Care Veterinarian, she owns a mobile boat veterinary practice in Casco Bay called Island Veterinary Service, and is a Veterinary Medical Officer for the National Veterinary Response Team of the Department of Health and Human Services, deploying all over the United States for disaster mitigation.  Dr. Domenico also provides emergency medical care to Secret Service and military working canines, and she is one of the lead instructors for the Working Canine Medical Skills Course, organized by the Portland Police Department.  Dr. Domenico is also the President of the Maine Veterinary Medical Association.

Trail Veterinarian

Graduated in 2020 from Kansas State University. Worked 2 years in Lynn, MA in GP. Now I’m working in Marblehead, MA in GP. This is my first year volunteering for Can Am. My other veterinary interests are working with Police Dogs and Dermatology.

Veterinary Technician

I am a veterinary technician from southern Maine, have been in the field for 19 years . When not working in the veterinary setting I run my own small business working on horses, dogs and cats and even some people providing Magnwave PEMF.  This will be my 4th Can-Am race. I have really enjoyed the races in the past, the dogs and mushers make it all worth doing! I am so excited to be back for another year and look forward to the long weekend in the Maine woods.

Veterinary Technician

Anne has been a veterinary technician since 1993. She is Lead Tech at East End Veterinary Medical Centre in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. This is her first time volunteering at the Can Am Crown and she is very excited to join the veterinary team!

Veterinary Technician

Mike Santasieri is the first Hospital Technician Development Coordinator at the Tufts University Cummings Veterinary Medical Center in North Grafton, Massachusetts. He previously worked as a technician in both the Dialysis and the Emergency and Critical Care departments and has worked at other emergency and general practices throughout Massachusetts since 2006. He earned his Associate of Science in Veterinary Technology and his Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Science at Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mike is a Level 2 Fear Free Certified Professional, a Human-Animal Bond Certified Practitioner, a certified RECOVER CPR Instructor in both BLS and ALS, and is certified in Adult Mental Health First Aid.

Besides renal replacement therapies, therapeutic apheresis, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, his other areas of clinical interest include mechanical ventilation, pain management, and palliative care. When he’s not working, Mike enjoys hiking, sampling new beers and cocktails, and amateur woodworking. He shares his home with his wonderful fiancé, Ashley, their adorable rescue dog, Gingersnap, their cantankerous geriatric turtle, Ethel, and their small flock of chickens, Liz, Kassandra, and Darlene.

Veterinary Technician

I have a bachelors in science (Biology); became a licensed vet tech in 2011 and have been working in ECC and more specifically running hemodialysis treatments in cats and dogs since 2017. I have a 14 yo husky , a 15 yo son and a 8yo daughter who I love with all my heart. I like doing DIY projects at home on my free time. This will be my 4th year at the Can-Am and look forward to many more!

Veterinary Technician

Fayth Weed is a Certified Veterinary Technician who has been with the Can-Am since 2012. Fayth has volunteered at sled dog races all over the country both as part of the veterinary team and as a handler working with racing sled dog teams. She worked in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care as a Certified Veterinary Technician for many years and transferred her skills into human nursing and now is a Registered Nurse working with a helicopter service that flies all over New England and specializes in critical care and retrieval of patients. When Fayth is not volunteering as a veterinary technician or working she is a recreational musher helping to train sled dog teams and assisting sled dog kennels. She lives at home with her three Siberian Huskies and loves hiking and adventures with her dogs.

Veterinary Technician

Marah has worked in veterinary medicine for the past 11 year.  She currently is the Assistant Director of Rehabilitation Therapy at Animal Hospital of Dauphin Co.  Marah graduated from Shippensburg University with a bachelor's degree in biology.  Also, she has obtained her veterinary technology degree and has completed the Canine Rehabilitation Certificate Program from the University of Tennessee. Currently, she is working toward completing the Certified Canine Manual Therapy (CCMT) Certificate Program. 

When not working, Marah can be found hiking with her husky mix Jethro or snuggling up with a book and her 13 year old husky mix Mika.

Veterinary Technician

I am a licensed, certified and registered veterinary nurse. I attended Becker College with degrees in Animal Care and Veterinary Technology. I’ve worked in Emergency and Critical Care for many years and decided to take some “me” time. We recently began several social media platforms with hopes to start a non-profit, “Big Dirty and Company” working toward helping pets in need of emergency care. I volunteer internationally as a veterinary nurse for ocean conservation and spay and neuter clinics when I can. I live at home with my special needs pets, "Toby," a Moluccan cockatoo, "Ginger," a Triton cockatoo, a “temporary” squirrel, 7 parakeets all named “Ben,” "Marcus", a 3 legged dog from the Caribbean, "Margaret", an electrocution survivor, and three Sphynx cats… “Big Dirty, Nathaniel and Karen." I am working on starting a technician branch of the ISDVMA! I am dedicated to my family and love my pets more than life! My first Can-Am was in 1998 and I'm looking forward to another year! I'm in this life for the animals!

Veterinary Technician

Ashley has been a veterinary technician for more than a decade with a primary focus on ECC and inpatient nursing. Recently she made the switch to specialty medicine, splitting her time between medical and radiation oncology. As a New England native, when not at work she enjoys hiking, camping, horseback riding, sewing, and experimenting with new wine and food pairings. She lives happily with her fiancé Mike, their rescue pup Gingersnap, their cantankerous elderly turtle Ethel, and their three hens Kassandra, Darlene, and Liz.

Veterinary Technician

My name is Katie Fowles and I’m so excited to be a part of this amazing event. I have been in the veterinary field for almost 6 years now working almost exclusively emergency medicine. I also have a special passion for exotic animal care and husbandry. I have never volunteered for Can-Am before but am thrilled to start! In my spare time I enjoy hanging out with my young daughter, reading, crafting, and caring for my myriad of exotic and ‘odd’ critter companions.

Veterinary Technician

Beth Perry has four years veterinary experience as an emergency assistant and one year of surgery experience. This is my first year at the Can Am. I have my own sled dogs with my boyfriend. I’ve been in the sled dog world for about seven years. I love being outdoors in general but love to handle sled dogs.

Veterinary Technician

Elspeth Pennell is a licensed veterinary technician who has been in the field for over a decade. This is her first time volunteering with CanAm! Most of her experience is in field medicine, working with both small and large animals, as well as teaching. She currently works at a Maine Veterinary Medical Center and with Island Veterinary Service, serving the island pets of Casco Bay. She is also on the Maine Vet Tech Board and teaches an advanced first aid course for operational k9s.

Veterinary Technician

Sarah is a 3rd year vet student at Tufts. She began her veterinary journey in 2015 volunteering as a kennel tech at various animal shelters in her free time while she was active duty in the U.S. Army. In 2021, she left the military and worked as a veterinary assistant at a single doctor practice in Colorado. From there, she worked as a medium duty diesel mechanic before matriculating at Tufts. She has always loved huskies. She had the privilege to volunteer as a student at Can-Am beginning in 2023 and was completely hooked and so grateful to be mentored by the veterinarians and techs on the team. She was also part of the Wilderness Sled Dog Race vet team in 2024, and spent time in the summer of 2024 externing at a rural veterinary practice in Alaska where she got to visit Mitch Seavey’s kennel. Outside of school and volunteering, Sarah spends time with her two rescue mutts, her partner Dan, and enjoys cold water scuba diving in southern New England.