Rising Sun Staff

Marta Engel, DVM,  the founder of Rising Sun Animal Wellness Center has been a practicing veterinarian in Crawford and Vernon Counties for over 25 years. In 1998, after having much success in bringing holistic and natural healing to farm and performance animals in her area, she decided to establish a clinic in Viroqua, Wisconsin.   Dr. Engel graduated in 1980 from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She completed postgraduate training in veterinary homeopathy with the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy, Eugene, Oregon.  Dr. Engel has completed a state certified course in Veterinary Spinal Manipulation (VSM), and is a member of the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA).  She is currently studying veterinary acupuncture with the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS) and has recently finished a course in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  She and her family have farmed in Crawford County since 1981. Rising Sun Jersey Farm was certified organic in 1988.

Dr. Engel has carefully selected a caring, knowledgeable in-office team.  This team includes Laura Buss, DVM, who received her veterinary degree from the University of Illinois in 1994.  She worked at 2 small animal practices in Waukesha County for six years before moving to the Kickapoo Valley.  Dr. Buss practices small animal medicine with special interests in oncology and dermatology.  Dr. Buss has been a member of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association since 1995.

We have recently added a new face to our staff, Janna Kottke, DVM moved to Viroqua in August 2007 with her family (husband Joe Lenarz, and their three children.)  She hails originally from Dexter, Michigan.  She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota for her undergraduate education, and graduated from Michigan State College of Veterinary Medicine in 2000.  She has worked in a primary care setting since then; first in a mixed animal practice in Hudson, Wisconsin, and then in small animal practices in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  She earned her certification in veterinary acupuncture, having taken the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society's training course in 2002-3.  She also has had training in Chinese Herbal Medicine.  In Minneapolis, she worked as a holistic veterinarian, utilizing acupuncture, western and eastern herbal therapy and diet therapy to help dogs and cats with chronic or degenerative diseases, cancer and pain.  She believes that these can be successful treatments for many conditions, and are good tools for maintaining health in all animals.  She is currently learning Reiki, and hopes to be able to use this modality soon as well.

The staff at Rising Sun believes in working together to bring the highest quality and the most appropriate care to each patient. Maximum recovery often involves using the techniques of more than one discipline, as well as attention to diet and exercise.