Eugene Animal Hospital was founded and built in 1940 by the late Dr. & Mrs. Michael Swangard along South Hilyard Street at the location of present day Roosevelt Middle School. This was prior to the sparsely populated area’s incorporation into the small city of Eugene, which prompted Dr. Swangard to spearhead the construction of city waterlines into the Hilyard neighborhood for the first time. Dr. & Mrs. Swangard dedicated their lives to the wellbeing of animals in Lane County and beyond, with Dr. Swangard serving as the president of Lane County Humane Society in addition to serving in the U.S. War Department as a scientific consultant, Lieutenant Colonel, based in Berlin, Germany, shortly following the end of World War II. His investigative work within German facilities produced multiple documents of unshared wartime scientific research to be shared to the Allies, which would later help him in his research as owner of the sole laboratory (located within Eugene Animal Hospital!) in the state of Oregon specializing in bacteriological investigation. Dr. & Mrs. Swangard’s research helped to develop drugs and vaccines for humans, pets and livestock alike, and were well-known and liked amongst Eugenians and locals of the Willamette Valley. Dr. Swangard was also a profound animal cruelty activist.
“Within us all is everything good and bad. We all have the necessary rudiments of goodness pre-shaped in a spark of kindness, only to be struck by experience and the impulse of the heart flint of our character” – Dr. Swangard, DVM (Register Guard).
Eugene Animal Hospital was known for treating not just family pets, but livestock and wildlife as well. Eugene Animal Hospital moved locations to Franklin Boulevard nine years later in 1949, and changed ownership in 1957 to Dr. Gordon C. York from Modesto, California, after the Swangards moved across the country. Dr. York practiced at Eugene Animal Hospital for 18 years dedicating his life to the health and welfare of animals before turning over ownership again in 1974 to Dr. Rena Cowan and Dr. Richard Hoffman.
Dr. Cowan became the sole owner of Eugene Animal Hospital in 1980, fulfilling her goal of bringing affordable and comprehensive preventative care to the local community. Dr. Cowan ran the hospital as a full-service general practice facility and low-cost spay and neuter clinic, providing procedures such as feline neuters for as low as $12.50 and canine spays at $35 in 1981! Dr. Cowan supported the hospital through another change of location after an overnight fire damaged the previous Franklin Boulevard building on the 4th of July in 1984, moving us to our present-day location in the University neighborhood. She spent the remainder of her career at Eugene Animal Hospital before happily retiring in 2015 to continue her hobbies in aviation and her proactive involvement in the community.
Dr. Cowan passed the torch to her close friend and colleague, Dr. Jodi Wiktorowski, to continue her legacy of compassionate, accessible, and affordable care for our community in 2015. Dr. Wikotorowski, more affectionately known as Dr. Jodi, still owns the practice to this day and was voted Eugene’s Best Veterinarian in 2023-’24 and 2024-’25. Eugene Animal Hospital looks forward to providing services to the families and pets of our community for many years to come!
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