Meet our 2025 Yukon Quest Alaska Head Veterinarian Mercedes Pinto, DVM, through the below biography:
Dr. Mercedes Pinto is excited to head the team working to help keep all of the dogs happy and healthy while they run this incredible race! She looks forward to supporting the incredible athletes that are sled dogs, their mushers, and the amazing bond that makes this sport so special. Our veterinary team will be there for every dog on the trail, from pre-race vet checks, through every checkpoint, and until the last dog is across the finish line.
Dr. Pinto graduated from Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002, visited Fairbanks just after graduation, and it has been home ever since. She first volunteered on the Yukon Quest veterinary team in 2011, and immediately fell in love with sled dogs, the bond they have with their mushers, the beautiful, wild country the race runs through, and the Yukon Quest Family.
When she isn’t chasing sled dogs from checkpoint to checkpoint, or working as a shelter veterinarian, Dr. Pinto enjoys as many Alaska hobbies as she can squeeze in.
Mercedes Pinto, DVM
Arrolladora Veterinary, LLC