Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the reappointment of Holly Neaton, D.V.M., to the Board of Animal Health.

Neaton, of Watertown, has been the attending veterinarian for the Beckman Coulter Immunodiagnostics Animal Facility in Maple Plain since 1997. From 1979 to 1997, she was a veterinarian and partner in the Watertown Veterinary Clinic, a mixed animal practice with an emphasis on dairy, equine, and small ruminants.

Neaton received her doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, and returned there as an assistant professor from 1985 to 1992. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Veterinary Medicine Association (MVMA). She was MVMA's President in 1997 and received MVMA's “Veterinarian of the Year” Award in 2001.

Neaton is reappointed as a veterinarian member to the board for a four year term that expires January 2, 2012.

The Board of Animal Health oversees numerous voluntary and mandatory programs that focus on controlling and eradicating animal diseases in Minnesota. The Board consists of five members appointed by the Governor.