Dr. Tuck earned his BSPH in Health Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his DVM from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. After a brief stint providing bovine-exclusive care in the Central Valley of California, the desire to provide more diversified veterinary care brought him and his family back to the East Coast. Along with his wife, Sarah, Dr. Tuck raised their four children in Walkersville and has seen Walkersville Veterinary Clinic grow from a two-doctor practice to its current six-doctor staff. He enjoys fishing, scuba diving, photography, pottery and living life to its fullest all the time.

Dr. Griffiths grew up in southern New Jersey and received his B.A. in biology from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. His initial research interests were in herpetology, focusing on the reproductive ecology and morphology of snakes and turtles. (Herpetologica, Southwestern Naturalist) For many years, he planned to become a college professor. He completed four years of a Ph.D. program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Nebraska, as well as a year of professional woodworking in Massachusetts, prior to entering veterinary school. Dr. Griffiths received his veterinary degree from Purdue University in 2003 and joined the staff at Walkersville Veterinary Clinic shortly thereafter. He has been co-owner of the practice since 2006.

Dr. Griffiths’ professional interests are small animal medicine, surgery, and client education. When he’s not working, Dr. Griffiths is almost always with his wonderful wife and two children, and their rescue dogs Petey and Disco. He still enjoys woodworking, and almost anything involving boats, fishing, or water.

Dr. Rachelle Joress grew up on Long Island, New York, horseback riding and enjoying a menagerie of pets. She majored in Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and received her DVM degree from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2017. Following her passion for equine medicine, Dr. Joress completed an ambulatory and critical care equine internship In central Virginia. Since then she has been practicing equine medicine in Maryland and, more recently, working with small animals as well.

Her professional interests include equine lameness, dentistry, and emergency medicine, as well as small animal general medicine. She values client education and finding treatments that are best suited to the unique needs of her patients and clients. In addition, she has enjoyed traveling to care for animals in underserved communities, including working equids in the Dominican Republic as well as cats and dogs on Native American reservations in South Dakota. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, traveling, cooking, and spending time with her husband Howie, and their dog Photon and polydactyl cat Milo.