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Heritage of Mountain View Animal Hospital

Dr. Keith Johnson joined Dr. Jay Bennett at the Rushmore Animal Clinic on Sturgis Road in Black Hawk in August 1957, after serving two years in the United States Air Force.

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Mountain View Animal Hospital building
Mountain View Animal Hospital building

Heritage of Mountain View Animal Hospital

In August of 1957, Dr. Keith Johnson, after having served two years in the U.S. Air Force, joined Dr. Jay Bennett at the Rushmore Animal Clinic on Sturgis Road near Black Hawk. After three years in that practice, Dr. Bennett wanted to sell Dr. Johnson the practice, but Dr. Johnson decided to strike out on his own. He had hoped to eventually start his own practice, and a friend told him of a piece of land on Jackson Boulevard that was for sale. He purchased the land, and began making plans to build Mt. View Veterinary Clinic.

Henry Hackett and Sons was hired as general contractor, and following Dr. Johnson’s design, obtained the services of Gerlach and Ebert Plumbing, Harry’s Electric, Whitaker and Mattson Heating and Air Conditioning and Ham Brother’s Masonry to complete the building. Dr. Johnson finished the floors and painting himself, and the clinic opened their doors for business on June 25th of 1961.

Mountain View Animal Hospital building
Mountain View Animal Hospital building
At the time of opening, there were only two other veterinary practices in Rapid City, and both were on the east side of town, Dr. James V. Norris and Dr. Roman Kurylas.

​On July 31, 1996, after 39 years in Rapid City, Dr. Johnson retired and sold the practice to Dr. Lynne H. Mazzone. The location served the clinic well, but we quickly outgrew it and moved just up around the corner to our current location in the Jackson Boulevard Centre in 2004.

After a wonderful career of helping pets and their people, Dr. Mazzone started planning her retirement, and in November 2015, she sold the hospital to Dr. Nick and Dr. Serena Heig. Dr. Serena enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine with a special interest in soft tissue surgery, the management of endocrine disorders, and physical rehabilitation/arthritis management for her aging patients. Dr. Mazzone continued to care for her patients on a part-time basis until a year later when her retirement became official.

The doctors and staff continue to provide excellent medical care and client service Mountain View Animal Hospital was founded in June of 1961.