When is a veterinarian more than a veterinarian? When they show as much care for people as they do for animals. That definitely defines Dr. Patrick Warpinski ’85, DVM’91.
Warpinski is the owner and operator of The Animal House, an award-winning Green Bay animal services business that he established in 2004. Along with providing veterinary care, boarding, grooming and training, The Animal House initiated a local partnership with Paul’s Pantry to provide low-cost pet care for individuals in need..
“My wife and I are proud to contribute to the greater good in Green Bay and the surrounding area,” says Warpinski. “We’re always looking for ways to care for the community as a whole … not just pets.” Along with Paul’s Pantry, the Warpinskis donate to the local YMCA summer camp programs that help kids stay on the right track and sponsor a miniature vet clinic in the Green Bay Children’s Museum, among a variety of other charitable endeavors. “We do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Warpinski says.
We’re always looking for ways to care for the community as a whole … not just pets.
When it came time to attend college, Warpinski also knew what to do. “It was UW–Madison or nothing for me,” he says. “Academically, it’s obviously a top-notch school. And I couldn’t have gotten a better veterinary school education any place other than Wisconsin.”
Warpinski earned both his bachelor’s of science and doctor of veterinary medicine degrees from the UW. But he didn’t necessarily know those would be the degrees he’d earn or the career path he’d take when he first enrolled.
“I used to spend lots of time on our family farm,” he says. “And I liked science, so I thought that maybe this is what I should do, and I made an effort at achieving that goal.”
He achieved that goal and more. Most recently, Warpinski was named president of the Bay Area Humane Society, and he traveled to China in 2015 to participate in the pilot Nobivac Global Health Veterinary Exchange program. He was one of the 10 vets across the world chosen to participate in the program, which provides veterinarians the chance to visit other clinics around the world to exchange knowledge and experience.
“I learned to take nothing for granted while at UW–Madison, and that I can do whatever I put my mind to. And that’s helped give me an attitude of perseverance that I’ve used to achieve many of these things in my life,” he says.
