Amber Acker-Sanborn and her sister Maggie Acker-Buck can’t recall a time when they weren’t hanging out in their dad’s Sun Valley Animal Center. The two grew up attending the surgeries of alpacas and other exotic animals as their father, Randy Acker, performed hip replacements on snow leopards from the Idaho Falls Zoo and repaired broken legs on a bear cub and a circus tiger that performed in Las Vegas. Early on they realized there was only one career path for them: following in Dad’s footsteps.
“It was fun attending the surgeries of the two snow leopards. Not only were they beautiful, but they had such huge paws,” said Acker-Buck. “We grew up helping with the pet store and cleaning animals’ cages. And, when we were little, and an emergency came up, Dad would put us in a kennel, and we’d pretend to be puppies drinking out of little bowls.” Their childhood home was filled with everything from cats to cockatiels— animals from the clinic that the family would foster until they healed.
“I always wanted to be a veterinarian,” said Acker-Sanborn. “I love being with animals and the humans who are all about animals and their well-being. And I love working with my family. We definitely played ‘vet,’” she added. “Sometimes it still feels like we are playing vet.”
The Acker family includes Randy’s brother Mark Acker, who retired from Sawtooth Animal Center in Bellevue several years ago, and Scott Acker, who works at the Sun Valley Animal Center’s downtown clinic. Mom—Sue Acker—left her work at Montessori to fill in as a receptionist for the veterinary clinic one year and never left until she retired a few years ago.
Acker-Buck joined the Sun Valley Animal Center in 2010 after graduating from Oregon State University in Corvallis: “Sun Valley is a great place to live, and I was fortunate to be able to come back.”
After graduating from St. George’s University in the Caribbean, Acker- Sanborn treated military working dogs and civilian-owned pets on a U.S. military base in the United Kingdom while her husband Reid was in the U.S. Air Force. She traveled home to Sun Valley to work with her father during her husband’s deployments and returned permanently with her husband and son Ryder when Reid got out of the Air Force. Together, the sisters fill their days administering vaccines, doing wellness checkups and performing various surgeries.
“I enjoy helping animals heal,” said Acker-Sanborn. Like my dad, I have a special interest in surgery—some of my favorites being the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy and the total hip replacement,” she said. “Patients that undergo those procedures generally do well and return to normal activity.”
“We see a lot of dogs—and cats, too—who are brought here from outside Idaho—California, Washington, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Montana, Alaska, even New York for hip replacements,” added Acker-Buck. “My dad teaches a lot of hip and knee courses, which leads to a lot of referrals.”
Sue Acker said she is proud of both daughters and believes they made Randy’s job a lot more fun as he was able to share with them, teach them, watch them learn.
Randy, who is transitioning to retirement, says he’s gratified that he’s leaving the clinic in his daughters’ hands. He was surprised but very happy when they decided to go into the profession and said it was a dream come true. They work together often and learn from one another. He will continue to help even after he retires. Acker-Sanborn said she felt fortunate to have had hands-on learning from her father in addition to her veterinary schooling.
“He has given me tips for avoiding complications that are not found in textbooks,” she said. “The biggest thing I’ve learned from my father is resilience. I am so lucky to have my dad as my mentor. I aim to be just like him in so many ways.”
How It Began
The Acker family legacy began when Randy Acker moved to Sun Valley in 1979 from Fort Collins where he had attended vet school. His brothers soon followed.
Randy became acquainted with Sun Valley while backpacking here, and it was local veterinarian Bob Beede who suggested he go to vet school. When Randy returned, he ended up joining Beede the day after he arrived, taking the place of Beede’s partner who had just left. In vet school Randy put together the skeletons of dogs that had been used in experiments studying the effects of radiation. Randy sold them to college professors to make a little extra money.
His love of tinkering paid off when he and Ketchum engineer Greg Van Der Meulen invented the BioMedtrix Canine TATE Total Elbow Replacement, following that up with the TATE Total Ankle Replacement. Both were named after Amber and Maggie’s childhood yellow lab, Tate, who had elbow dysplasia and pain associated with end-stage osteoarthritis of the joint.
Acker-Buck said it’s nice that her father and uncles are still available to help: “It’s great having this all in the family—we’re very lucky to have support.”