In this episode of Airdrie Inside, host Britton Ledingham sits down with Dr. Vladimir Tadić — a production animal veterinarian with Fen Vet — in Robert DeWitt's garage, to talk about the side of agriculture most people never see.

Dr. Tadić was rejected from vet school three times before finally getting in. The son of first-generation immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, he grew up in Edmonton before his family bought a farm south of the city — a decision he pushed for, chasing roots he'd only tasted during summers back in Europe making plum brandy with his grandmother. Today, he's building a new practice with his mentor Dr. Cody Creelman of Fen Vet, serving the cattle, sheep, dairy, and goat producers who keep Airdrie fed.

This conversation goes beyond the clinic: the immigrant work ethic that shaped him, why he sees himself as ”part veterinarian, part therapist” for farmers who have no one else to talk to, and the uncomfortable truth about where food actually comes from. Dr. Tadić makes the case for why rural veterinary medicine needs more young people to say yes, and why nobody should be afraid to ask questions.

Airdrie Inside is a series documenting the people building this city's story — one conversation at a time.

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