San Diego Veterinary Hospital LACC Support Staff

Dana - Registered Veterinary Technician

Dana is originally from Kansas, and has been living in San Diego since 1985. Dana has a handsome young son, Aaron, who also shares mom's love of animals. They usually have a variety of small pets, ranging from frogs to rats, and also have a chihuahua mix named Sangria.

Dana attended Colby Community College for two years to become a Registered Veterinary Technician. In 1997, she began teaching at San Diego Mesa College's Animal Hospital Technology Program. Dana devotes most of her time to our clinic while continuing to teach at Mesa College.

Dana worked with large animals from 1987-1997, and has worked with small animals since 1986.

Outside Interests:
Spending time with her son, camping, hiking, gardening and reading.

Dee is a Registered Veterinary Technician

Dee is a Registered Veterinary Technician

Dee - Registered Veterinary Technician

Dee grew up in San Diego and attended Mesa College and San Diego State University. She has worked in the veterinary field since 1996. In 2002 she received her Veterinary Technician License.

Dee met her husband, Steve, through their mutual love of animals. They have a pit bull named Piggy, and a doberman named Pony. They also have a baby daughter named Cassidy.

Outside Interests:
Dining out, walking the dogs and baby, gardening, and vacationing in Lake Powell, Arizona.

Degrees:
A.S. Animal Health Technology, Mesa College
B.A. Social Sciences, San Diego State University

Diane is a veterinary assistant

Diane - Veterinary Assistant

Diane shares her home with her cats Tigger, Pooh and Princess.

She began working with us in 1998 while completing the Regional Occupational Program's Veterinary Assisting courses. Diane is our Safety Coordinator, making sure everything and everyone is complying with OSHA's health and safety standards. Her professional interests include dentistry and assisting in surgery.

Outside Interests:
Walking, bike riding, reading, and singing in the choir. She also enjoys attending the theater and concerts.

Faith - Veterinary Assistant

Faith grew up in England and Connecticut. She graduated from the University of Hartford with a BA in Environmental Policy. She moved to San Diego in 2002 and attended the Animal Health Technology Program at San Diego Mesa College. Faith has been working here at Lifetime Animal Care Center since 2005. She has found her passion and it fills her heart with joy to work here.

Outside Interests:
Camping, hiking, reading, cooking, running and walking her dog.

Miriam - Veterinary Assistant

Miriam began working at our practice in August 2006. She relocated to San Diego from Petaluma, a small town in Northern California. She has been involved in the veterinary field since 2001. She especially enjoys the medical aspect of the job and being able to provide quality care to the patients. She feels very fortunate to be a part of LACC.

Degrees:
B.A. Global Studies, Sonoma State University

Outside Interests:
Swimming, cooking, and reading.

Kelly - Veterinary Assistant

Kelly was born and raised in Florida. Her first experience in the veterinary field occurred while she was still in high school. She worked with both large and small animals in a clinic that practiced both traditional and holistic veterinary medicine. She then went on to work at the local humane society and volunteered at many adoption events. During her senior year in high school she volunteered at Mote Marine Laboratories, a local marine research aquarium, as a visitor guide and also helped to collect data for the research lab. As a volunteer for a local wildlife rescue organization, she helped care for many orphaned wild critters including raccoons and even a little mouse. That volunteer position led to an employment opportunity at a wonderful veterinary hospital where she learned about treating dogs, cats, birds and other small animals. Kelly worked at this hospital for three years where she honed her clinical skills. Of course she continued to take in orphans, raising a litter of kittens and one puppy while working there. She and her husband relocated to San Diego in 2007. Along with them came the fur-family of two dogs, “Napoleon” and “Madison”, and twin kitties, “Kirra” and “Oz”.

Kelly was hired here at Lifetime Animal Care Center in April of 2008. This past June she, once again, took in an orphaned kitten. However, this one turned out to be very special. We believe this newborn kitten was abducted by a bird of prey, carried away from his family, and eventually dropped (probably during flight) into the yard of a family who scooped up the little fur ball and brought it into us. After our veterinarians administered care, Kelly took on the role of mama cat. Kelly bottle-fed the kitten every two hours for the next several weeks. Now named “Keiron”, he clearly sustained some sort of brain injury during his unplanned flight/fall, yet maintains a feisty spirit and a tenacious will to live. He has decided to stay with Kelly as a permanent member of their family.

Giuliana is a veterinary assistant attending college to become a registered veterinary technician

Giuliana - Veterinary Assistant

Giuliana grew up in Northern California and recently moved to San Diego to be closer to her fiancé, Rick. In San Francisco she was the Assistant Coordinator of VET SOS, a veterinary outreach program that provided veterinary care to the pets of the homeless. She is currently in the Mesa Animal Health Technology Program and plans to receive her Registered Veterinary Technician license in the fall of 2009. Giuliana and Rick share their home with Leo, an orange tabby, and Katie, a Miniature Schnauzer.

Degrees:
B.S. Environmental Biology, St. Mary's College of California

Outside Interests:
Soccer, running, hiking, and traveling

Tiffany - Veterinary Assistant

Tiffany has had a love for animals as long as she can remember. She grew up in Barstow where she volunteered with a local small animal vet since she was 11 years old. She also volunteered with the local humane society on a regular basis. Anytime she had the chance to be around animals she was there. Growing up Tiffany's family always had pets around. She grew up with a variety of reptiles and amphibians, fish, hamsters, and dogs.

Tiffany's husband's career as a Marine brought them and their furry family to the wonderful city of San Diego. They have a remarkable cattle dog mix, two extraordinary cats, a beautiful leopard gecko with three legs, and many colorful fish. Tiffany is currently attending the Animal Health Technology Program at Mesa College and will graduate in May. She plans on getting her RVT license in the fall of 2009.

Outside of work Tiffany enjoys spending time with her husband and furry children, walking, reading, and going to pro off road races.

Cathy - Receptionist / Accounting Admin.

Cathy has been working with dogs and cats since 1975. Knowing that this was where she wanted to devote herself, she completed the Animal Health Technician program and exam in 1979 at Mesa College, the same year she was married. After working for several years for the veterinarian who inspired her, she took nine years off to raise her two children. When she returned to the field, she took a role at the front desk and found that she not only had a good understanding of what went on "in the back", but also had empathy for the owners who were bringing their animals in for care. At one time, she had the position of "Customer Representative" a title that sums up her attitude.

Cathy's family currently has two dogs (Labradors) and two cats. Cathy has been known to take home homeless cats and conspire with them to hide for a couple weeks so when her husband finds them, they are already members of the family. Her family has been raising guide dog puppies for Guide Dogs of the Desert since 1990 and Cathy has served various roles for the school in the San Diego area.

In addition to her pets, she enjoys quilting, kayak fishing, and Mammoth Lakes.

Leanne - Receptionist / Marketing / Web Admin.

Leanne's love of animals began during childhood with the usual progression of childhood pets (guppies to mice to hamsters to cats and dogs). Her family lived in a rural area of San Diego where she also had access to horses, cows, pigs, chickens, a donkey named "Judy", and a brilliant Border Collie who worked hard to keep all the animals (including the neighborhood children) in line.

While volunteering for Canine Companions for Independence, she realized that working with dogs was what really made her happy. She took a chance and applied for a newly created position at Clairemont Square Veterinary Clinic (now known as Lifetime Animal Care Center). Dr. Hardy took a chance and hired the applicant with no professional veterinary experience, but with plenty of passion about pet care. Leanne was our first receptionist here (1991-1994). She moved to Arizona for several years where she also worked in the veterinary field, then returned to Lifetime Animal Care Center in 2006. With experience at several different animal hospitals, she states that the quality of veterinary medicine, and the level of care provided here at LACC are the best she's ever encountered. She feels fortunate to be a part of this group of caring professionals.

In addition to playing with her two dogs, Leanne enjoys spending time with her husband and family (including four grandchildren), traveling, camping, hiking, reading, and writing.