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. He also enjoys large animal emergency medicine. 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. Brokaw grew up in Virginia where she began riding horses at an early age. She continued eventing her horse while getting a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. After graduating from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008, Dr. Brokaw started work at Walkersville Veterinary Clinic. She is particularly interested in sport horse medicine and lameness as well as poultry medicine.

In her free time, Dr. Brokaw continues to ride her horses and play with her dogs. While she only events a couple of times a year, she trail rides several times each week, often accompanied by her Chesapeake Bay Retriever. She also enjoys managing a backyard flock of chickens, ducks, and turkeys, as well as cooking. While she doesn’t cook her chickens, she does name them after types of chicken entrée (Cordon Bleu, Béchamel, Cacciatore, Sweet and Sour, etc.).

Dr. Breakell grew up in the northwest corner of Connecticut, where she was actively involved in the local 4H and FFA. She spent most of her spare time showing beef cattle and riding horses at her aunt’s boarding farm. Dr. Breakell received a BS in animal science/ pre-vet at the University of Findlay in Ohio and earned her DVM degree at Oklahoma State University. At OSU Dr. Breakell was very involved in the bovine practitioner’s club. She also worked for a local beef cattle operation feeding and caring for four hundred mother cows.

She started her career at a dairy cattle focused practice in the Central Valley of California before joining the Walkersville Veterinary team in January of 2018. Her main bovine interests are herd health and reproduction. She also enjoys the preventive medicine and emergency care aspect of equine medicine. She is fairly new to small animal medicine but loves preventive medicine, client interaction and small animal surgery. When Dr. Breakell isn’t working she likes to spend her time outdoors; skiing, hiking or relaxing at the lake. She also enjoys running and playing frisbee with her dog Roxy.

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.

Dr. Allison Rooney grew up in Abington, PA, a suburb close to Philadelphia. She enjoyed playing volleyball and lacrosse competitively during high school. Throughout high school and college, Dr. Rooney worked as a kennel attendant and eventually a veterinary assistant at a small animal hospital in her hometown.

She attended the University of Virginia for her undergraduate education, and graduated with a B.A. in Biology in 2017. During college, Dr. Rooney volunteered with an after-school horseback riding program for young kids and shadowed at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic in Earlysville, VA.

Dr. Rooney attended veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania where she was active with the Food Animal Club and Equine Club. She graduated in 2022 before starting as an associate veterinarian with Walkersville Vet Clinic. Dr. Rooney’s professional interests include small ruminant medicine (especially goats!), preventative care for all species, surgery, and client education.

In her free time, Dr. Rooney loves to do yoga, travel, and read fiction novels. She and her husband Connor also enjoy exploring downtown Frederick’s many restaurants and breweries. They have 2 adorable rescue rabbits – Hattie and Calvin – that keep them busy!