RootsIn 1970 Dr. Don Walsh opened the Ellisville Veterinary Clinic located on Clarkson Rd. Dr. Walsh saw both small animals and horses. The mixed practice continued to grow over the next 15 years.
GrowthIn 1985 Dr. Walsh decided to split the practice and Dr. Carter Smith purchased the small animal practice and continued on Clarkson Rd. as Ellisville Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Walsh moved the equine practice to his new large barn that sat on land that was the 1840’s Kreinkamp homestead, which inspired Dr. Walsh to name the new practice, Homestead Equine Hospital. Dr. Walsh was now able to travel making farm calls and servicing a much larger area allowing the practice to continue to rapidly grow. Dr Mark Cassells was hired in 1999, and Dr. Derek Craig was hired in 2002. The clinic opened on July 7, 2014
A Brighter FutureIn January of 2009 Dr. Cassells and Dr. Craig purchased the hospital from Dr. Walsh, and started to make plans to move the hospital to a better location. In the fall of 2012 Dr. Aarah Craig started working at Homestead. After 30 years of being stuffed into the original office with 4 Vets and 10 employees, we moved to the new location. July 7th 2012 was the first day open at the new hospital on Whispering Hope Drive in Villa Ridge, Mo. The new facility enables us to provide the best state of the art care for all our patients both small and large animal, while enabling us to grow and better serve the community. Dr.WalshDr. Donald Walsh has been in practice since 1969. He officially retired from clinical practice in 2015. He is currently the Director of Clinical Research at Homestead and is devoted to finding a way to free the horse from laminitis, a devastating crippling disease. Dr. Walsh has an international reputation as an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Laminitis. Dr. Walsh is the founder of the Animal Health Foundation, AHF, which is a St. Louis based non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for a cure and prevention of Laminitis/Founder. http://www.ahf-laminitis.org
