Blacksburg Animal Clinic is committed to the health and wellbeing of your furry family members. We strive to offer state of the art diagnostic, internal medicine, and surgical care options for our patients to help them live long and healthy lives.  Blacksburg Animal Clinic is owned by Dr. Luis Gonzalez.  

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​Dr. Matthew Watson, DVM

Dr. Matthew Watson has worked in veterinary clinics since the age of 16 when he started as a veterinary assistant in Charlottesville, VA, working at the Animal Medical Center of Charlottesville.  Dr. Watson earned his Bachelors of Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, majoring in Animal and Poultry Sciences, from 2004 to 2008. He then began working at Radford Animal Hospital, where he met his wife, Rhiannon Watson.  Dr. Watson attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 2012.  He completed his clinical year of vet school at Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia.

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After graduating Vet school, Dr. Watson worked at Tipton Ridge Veterinary Medical Center where he honed his clinical skills.  Dr. Watson also joined the Army Corps of Veterinarians in 2015, and completed the Veterinary Support to Theater of Operations course and the Veterinary Medical Detachment Pre-deployment Course where he learned advanced surgical techniques and trauma management. Dr. Watson deployed to Afghanistan in 2017 as the commanding veterinarian in theater.  After compleating his tour, he served in the Army Reserve until he retired in 2022.

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Dr. Watson became the full-time veterinarian at Blacksburg Animal Clinic in January 2020.  Dr, Watson also works along side Dr. Gonzalez to further his knowledge of veterinary diagnostics and surgery.  Dr. Watson completed the Securos Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA) course in 2022.  Dr. Watson completed the Principles of Orthopedics course from the AO Foundation and is an active member of the AO VET.   Dr. Watson enjoys performing surgeries,  including fracture repairs, cranial cruciate repair, exploratory laparotomy, and soft tissue surgery.  He also enjoys endoscopy, rhinoscopy, and trauma medicine.

In his limited free time, Dr. Watson likes to spend time with his family and complete home improvement projects.  He likes fishing, hiking and being outdoors.

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 Dr. Luis Gonzalez, DVM 

Dr. Gonzalez attended the University of La Salle College of Veterinary Medicine. After completing his doctorate, he pursued post-graduate training in surgery and obtained a Master's degree in veterinary surgery at Sao Paulo State University in Jaboticabal São Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Gonzalez then moved to the United States and did professional externships in Small Animal Surgery at The University of California in Davis, CA, Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, CO, and Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. In 2004 Dr. Gonzalez moved to Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where he did a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Rotating Internship. After completing his internship he moved to San Antonio to work at South Texas Veterinary Specialists as a surgical assistant.

Dr. Gonzalez moved to Blacksburg in 2007 where he started a two year internship in Small Animal Surgery at the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, participating in several orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries. After completing his surgical internship, Dr. Gonzalez started a radiology internship. He was in charge of the outpatient service, where he further expanded his considerable experience with radiographs, ultrasounds and computer tomography. His internship research was accepted and published in the Journal of Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound.

After  completing his radiology internship, Dr. Gonzalez created a company that offers in-house ultrasound and echocardiograms (PetVetUltrasound) for veterinary practices in the New River Valley and surrounding areas.

Dr. Gonzalez is the owner of Blacksburg Animal Clinic, Wise County Animal Hospital, and Community Animal Hospital, where he performs all orthopedic procedures, echocardiograms, and complete abdominal ultrasounds. Dr. Gonzalez's main interest is orthopedic surgery and imaging. He is one of a handful of veterinarians in Virginia that performs Tibial Tuberosity Advancement for the treatment of cranial cruciate ligament deficiency. He is also trained to perform advanced orthopedics such as locking bone plating, external fixator, and other orthopedic procedures.

Dr. Gonzalez's surgical experience:

-Master's degree in Veterinary Surgery

-Surgical assistant at South Texas Veterinary Specialist

-Small Animal Surgery Internship

-Completed the basic and advanced orthopedic courses from the AO foundation and is an active member of the AO VET

-Extensive experience performing orthopedic procedures for surrounding veterinary practices

-More than 10 years of clinical experience – much of which was at a University level

Dr. Gonzalez's Ultrasound and Echocardiogram experience:

-Radiology Internship at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

-Publications in the area of veterinary radiology

-Participated as an instructor in the Ultrasound Short Course for Practitioners at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

-Offers in-house complete abdominal ultrasound and echocardiograms to 18 veterinary practices in the New River Valley area

-Provides in-house ultrasound training on the east coast for a private company. Dr. Gonzalez has taught more than 45 veterinary hospitals on how to perform a complete abdominal ultrasound

-Dr. Gonzalez has teamed with Dr. Jessica Solomon. Dr. Solomon is a board-certified Veterinary Cardiologist and she reads the echocardiograms performed by Dr. Gonzalez.

Dr. Gonzalez enjoys practicing Karate, running, fishing and traveling with his family. He also enjoys learning different languages and he speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

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