SOUTH FORK — The South Fork community excitedly welcomed a new veterinarian to town. Jody Duff and her husband are originally from Ohio. After visiting Colorado when she was in college, Duff knew that her path would lead her back and eventually it did, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

“We decided to move to Colorado during 2020 and in the middle of COVID. We went out to visit some friends that lived in Parker, Colorado, and we decided to move here. We first moved to the Black Forest area around Colorado Springs, but it wasn’t long after the pandemic ended that we decided we didn’t like the influx of people. Traffic became to be too much, it was taking too long for us to commute to work and the growth after COVID was just crazy,” said Duff.

It was around this time that friends brought them to found South Fork.

“They’re avid skiers and found South Fork through Wolf Creek Ski Resort. We went to visit and just loved it. We kept saying, this place it great! We missed living in a smaller community at this point. There is something about being in a small town and being able to run into patients at the grocery store or out for a walk around town. Up where we were, we didn’t have that, so we made the move,” Duff said.

Duff and her husband did some research and noticed that South Fork did not have a veterinarian.

“There was a vet up in Creede and one in Monte Vista, but nothing close to where South Fork was. After seeing that the community could support a business like that, we decided to open the clinic. At first, I was looking at renting a place and then the building where we ended up came for sale and that was that. It was meant to be,” laughed Duff.

Duff has a degree from Ohio State University as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and has an interest in training and animal dentistry.

“I am a very thorough doctor compared to some of others in my field. I want to get to know you and your animal. When you come see me for say an ear infection, I will treat the ear infection, but I will also do a full exam to help find the cause of the infection if there is one. I take more time and answer questions. I really focus on thorough, preventative care and that matters to me,” said Duff.

Her success so far has been attributed to the welcoming community, her staff and her office manager Jessica Golightly.

“I really wouldn’t be where I am without all of the community being so supportive, my staff for being amazing and fast learners and my office manager Jessica. The whole experience has been amazing,” Duff said.

Duff is also working on creating an emergency fund at the new clinic for situations like the one that happened a few weeks ago involving Meadow the lost dog that was found at Big Meadows Reservoir.

Duff helped secure and treat the dog when reports of the lost animal started to come in and through that experience, Duff wants to help other animals in the same or similar situations.

“People can donate to the fund, and we will use it in emergency situations like the one involving Meadow. It’s nice to have something like that that a community can fall back on,” she said.

Beyond that Duff is passionate about being an active member of the community. Between animal rescue funds and events that raise awareness about animal issues, Duff has an open-door policy and invites the community to come in and say hello. For more information and hours of operation, visit www.southforkvetclinic.org