Dr. Melanie Butera

Veterinarian/ Founder of Elm Ridge Animal Hospital

Dr. Melanie Butera joined the Veterinary Wellness Partners family when she sold her practice, Elm Ridge Animal Hospital, to the partnership in 2018.  Dr. Butera graduated from The Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine in 1985, and was the 1985 recipient of the college Small Animal Medicine Award.  After graduation, she came back here  to her hometown and began a long career as an emergency clinician and owner of the Stark County Veterinary Emergency Clinic.  After nearly three decades of emergency and critical care work, she started Elm Ridge Animal Hospital with her friend Dr. Dean LeBeau. Dr. Butera's particular love of workng up tough  internal medicine cases like the famed TV character "Dr. House" inspired her co-workers to give her the affectionate nickname "Dr. DogHouse." She will also work on exotic pets and it's not unusual to see a Uromastyx lizard or Goffin's Cockatoo on her schedule. Besides her work as a veterinarian, Dr. Butera is the author two published books and has been featured in international television shows and articles about her celebrity pet deer, Dillie.  Although writing is a favorite hobby, Dr. Butera also is a genealogist, which fuels her love of history and languages.