Posted Tuesday, December 18, 2012 --- 3:16 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin's state veterinarian is retiring next month after 27 years of state service.

Robert Ehlenfeldt will retire Jan. 25 as state veterinarian and division administrator for the animal health division at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Ehlenfeldt said in a news release Tuesday he'll miss the work, but he says "it's time." He says the division is as solid as he's ever seen it.

Ehlenfeldt came to the department from private practice in 1985 and started as a district veterinarian in southwest Wisconsin. He was named state veterinarian in 2003 and reappointed last January.

During his tenure, Ehlenfeldt has overseen the move of deer and fish farm registration and regulation from the Department of Natural Resources to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Copyright 2012: Associated Press