OLYMPIA -- The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has selected Dr. Amber Itle as its new state veterinarian.

Dr. Itle first joined WSDA in 2013 as a field veterinarian and was appointed assistant state veterinarian in 2017. Last summer, she was named interim state veterinarian upon the retirement of Dr. Brian Joseph.

“I am confident that Dr. Itle will be an exceptional state veterinarian. She has years of experience in animal agriculture, is well regarded by our state’s livestock industry, and cares deeply about animal health and welfare,” WSDA director Derek Sandison said. “Dr. Itle has been doing a terrific job these past few months and I look forward to working with her in this permanent role.”

During her time at WSDA, Dr. Itle has responded to animal disease outbreaks, including avian influenza in 2014/15 and rabbit hemorrhagic disease in 2019. In recent years, she worked to increase outreach from the State Veterinarian’s Office, expanded the use of RFID tags in the state’s livestock industry, built infrastructure to support animal disease traceability across the state, developed guidance materials for responding to animal welfare cases and provided subject matter expertise on animal care issues during natural disasters.  

In her new role, Dr. Itle will manage the WSDA Animal Health, Avian Health and Animal Disease Traceability programs – all dedicated to protecting animal health and welfare, containing and eradicating animal disease and safeguarding public health by limiting exposure to zoonotic diseases. She is the current president of the U.S. Animal Health Association, Western States Livestock Health Association, which will holds its annual conference in Washington state this year. She also chairs several animal health and welfare committees with the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials.  

Dr. Itle has been engaged in animal agriculture all her life, growing up on her family’s fourth generation producer-handler dairy farm. She learned to do everything from milk cows, to bottle milk at the processing plant, to running a milk route for home delivery service. Both her father and sister are also veterinarians. She spent 10 years as a livestock, equine and sale yard veterinarian in the private sector before joining WSDA.

Dr. Itle holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University, a Doctoral of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Animal Welfare from the University of British Columbia. 

In her free time, you might find her in the outdoors, backpacking, skiing, and mountain biking with her husband and three children, Cecelia, Lila, and Austin.