Best in the Biz 2017 – Veterinarian Runner-up

An Arkansas native, veterinarian Carol Entricken’s passion for animals developed early on when she was a girl growing up in small-town Arkansas. She enjoyed the rural life in Norman in Montgomery County on a farm that raised registered Charolais cattle.

“My passion for animal care developed there with the many cows, horses, cats, dogs, and chickens,” Entricken says.

She would go on to college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and then earned her doctorate of veterinary medicine at Louisiana State University in 1983. Entricken has been practicing veterinarian medicine in Benton ever since. She began her veterinary career at the Benton Veterinary Hospital in June of 1983 and practiced as an associate veterinarian with Dr. Wayne Stout until 1989 when she purchased the practice. Established in 1959, the hospital is the oldest veterinary practice in Saline County.

“For many years, I did both large and small animal medicine making farm calls with a wonderful assistant Ontario Richardson, better known as ‘Mr. Terry,’” Entricken says.

For the past several years, the hospital has been a companion animal medicine and surgery facility. Entricken credits the hospital’s success to “three highly skilled associates and a wonderful staff of 14.”

Something unique to Benton Veterinary Hospital is the practice performs therapy laser treatments with K-Laser, Entricken notes. “This treatment decreases healing time for back injuries, lacerations, surgical incisions, snake bites and more,” she explains. The hospital also has a full in-house lab so that most blood work can be performed within 15 minutes.

Entricken is a member and past president of the Saline County Executive Association, a previous founding member of the Benton Panther Foundation, a current member of the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“I have greatly enjoyed my years in Saline County and feel fortunate to have such wonderful clients and friends in this caring community,” she says.