For Sydney, veterinary medicine runs in the family. Not only did she grow up on a sheep farm in rural Wisconsin, her dad is a veterinarian himself and her mother holds an animal science degree! She’s always known that she would love to work hands-on with animals. Now, Sydney gets to use her management and business experience to better the lives of pet owners and their adorable companions every day.
Sydney holds a Bachelor’s degree in business and gained crucial customer-service experience while working in retail through her college years. She lived in a military community in Japan for a time, and began her own animal-care business to walk and pet-sit for military families. That experience only cemented her desire to make a difference in the lives of pets full-time. In September of 2020, she was thrilled to join the Animal Health Center team—Sydney is the clinic’s Office Manager.
Around the clinic, Sydney enjoys crunching the numbers, balancing inventory, and solving scheduling puzzles. Above all, she likes to meet pet owners and their four-legged friends on a daily basis. Working around adorable pets all day is something she never takes for granted!
Most of Sydney’s free time outside of work is spent with her family and pets at home. She’s married and shares her home with several pets: Edgar the English Shepherd; a Ryukyu mix from Japan named Shloopy; an Oki mix from Japan who goes by Elvis; and four lovable cats named Alister Junior, Leopold, Turtle, and Cottsie. She also has three farm dogs and a farm cat.
As a kid, Jenny was the only one in her family who could manage to give pills to pets. It was at this point that she began seriously considering veterinary medicine as a career. As her interests in science and medicine blossomed, Jenny quickly realized that becoming a Veterinary Technician was her ideal job choice!
Jenny grew up on a small dairy farm near Richfield, Wisconsin. She was only 15 years old when she began working at a boarding kennel, where her employer encouraged her to continue exploring the world of animal care. In early 2001, Jenny began here at the Animal Health Center as a kennel worker, enrolling in a veterinary technician program that same year.
After graduating in the spring of 2003, she started full-time here at the clinic and passed her Veterinary Technician National Examination to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. Cleaning and preparing injuries for surgical repair, applying bandages, and taking blood samples are some of Jenny’s favorite parts of her job. She also enjoys traveling to attend veterinary conferences, and has expanded her education in Florida, Kansas City, and Las Vegas!
Jenny’s family has an elderly Australian cattle dog, Sam, as well as three cats named Louie, Shylo, and Hansen. When she isn’t caring for pets around the clinic or spending time with animals outside of work, Jenny enjoys reading, scrap-booking, trying new recipes, and traveling.
Ever since she was a little girl, Elizabeth knew that she wanted to be an “animal doctor” and help all of the pets she possibly could. When she discovered the world of Veterinary Technician work, she knew that it was the perfect choice. Elizabeth hasn’t looked back since! Now, she’s been helping pets professionally for nearly eight years.
Elizabeth started here at Animal Health Center as a Kennel Assistant in 2011. It wasn’t long before she had signed on to study veterinary technology at Globe University, using her shifts here at the hospital to bolster her studies with real-world experience. After graduation, Elizabeth took a job as Lead Wellness and Surgery Technician at another clinic, then worked at a hospital in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin for another year. Elizabeth recently returned to this area, and was thrilled to join the Animal Health Center family once again—this time, she’s a Certified Veterinary Technician!
Medically, Elizabeth enjoys surgery and anesthesia monitoring, and she also likes using pain-management techniques to make her patients more comfortable. Elizabeth is also very passionate about educating clients on great pet-care methods; helping a pet to live a happier life through the power of education is the ultimate reward for her!
At home, Elizabeth shares her life with two wonderful pets of her own. Boomerang is a rescued Chocolate Lab who rarely gets more than 10 feet away from Elizabeth’s side, and Minerva the rescued Selkirk Rex cat is a daddy’s girl to Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Damon.
Growing up, Holly was always coming home with sick or injured animals. Thankfully, her parents tolerated her antics and encouraged her to contact local clinics and shelters to learn more about helping animals. Over time, Holly knew for certain that she wanted to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Life as a vet tech may have its ups and downs, but she cannot imagine it any other way.
Holly’s professional journey began at a small animal clinic in southeastern Wisconsin. At the time, her dogs were blood donors at the local ER, and the technician who ran the blood donor program persuaded Holly to make the jump into emergency medicine. As a result, she spent the majority of her career working as an ICU technician.
Clinically, Holly has a special interest in pharmacology. Seeing a patient’s quality of life improve with medication is simply amazing. She also enjoys being able to share her knowledge with the next generation of technicians. She figures she can’t take it with her when she goes, so she might as well leave it here for the future of vet med.
At home, Holly shares her life with her husband, a funny, talented, dedicated high school English teacher, musician, and voice actor. The couple can usually be found doing something outdoors, whether it’s being on the lake, riding motorcycles, or hiking with their two entertaining Dobermans, Se7en and Holden. In 2021, Holly started her own dog training business. She also coaches boys and girls tennis at two Lake County schools.
Kira grew up in Queensland, Australia with her family and about 20 pets that included ducks, geese, parrots, snakes, lizards, dogs, cats, and fish. When Kira was about 6 or 7, her mum came across a baby brush-tailed possum that had fallen out of a tree and been abandoned. They cared for that baby until Monday came around and they could take him to a rehabilitation center. After that experience, Kira knew that helping animals was her calling.
When Kira was 15 years old, her family moved to Wisconsin, where she had the choice to take a veterinary medicine elective in school. She then began looking for work in the field to gain more knowledge and discovered the Animal Health Center. Kira’s favorite part about working here is the variety of cases and the opportunity to learn about many different things. She also enjoys helping the technicians with anything they need.
Kira lives with her mum, stepdad, and a multitude of pets, including a dog named Ada, two ferrets (Loki and Angus), three cats (Stein, Jack, and Kilio), a bearded dragon named Frankie, and two snakes (Zeppelin and Tat). Ada loves to bark at piles of laundry. Loki has a fish toy that must always be kept in a specific spot. Angus will take anything he can fit in his mouth and hide it from you. Frankie loves to swim, and the snakes enjoy making tunnels.
When she’s not busy working or tending to her personal zoo of animals, Kira enjoys drawing, reading, and playing guitar on occasion.
After spending more than 20 years working as a manager in the retail industry, Amy found herself looking for a change. She wanted to do something that she would enjoy doing, and that would tap into her customer service background and love for animals. Lo and behold, Animal Health Center came calling, where Amy is now a receptionist who greets all pet owners and their furry loved ones!
Amy knows how important it is to be there for pet owners who are concerned about their beloved animals. She once had a Great Dane who fell ill, and that experience made her realize just how important it is to empathize with people who are going through similar situations.
When it comes to her role at Animal Health Center, Amy loves showing up to the clinic every day for a variety of reasons. She loves chatting with clients and enjoys seeing the different breeds of dogs and cats that walk into the practice. She also relishes being able to assist clients by readily answering their questions.
Born and raised in Watertown, WI, Amy still resides there today. She lives with her husband and their rescue dog, Kallie, a Great Pyrenees/Labrador mix who the family takes with them to explore new places. So far they’ve taken Kallie to 8 states, their favorite has been Montana, to see Glacier National Park! They have also recently rescued Matilda, a kitten they adopted from a local shelter.
Elysia decided to join the world of veterinary medicine for one simple reason: to help both animals and people. She gets to do just that as a member of the Animal Health Center team! Elysia is proud to help pets hands-on as a member of the clinic’s kennel team.
Elysia is originally from Houston, Texas. She started her veterinary journey as a receptionist, then moved into kennel work when she wanted to play a more hands-on role in the care of pets. Elysia particularly likes interacting one-on-one with clients and their adorable companions, and she’s fond of refilling preventative medications. She also loves to dote on the resident office pets!
Away from work, Elysia enjoys playing the guitar and painting. She and her family have two loveable cats named Braxton and Abby as well as three dogs with big personalities: Kobel, Kaiser, and Noah Bowie.
DON’T WAIT ANY LONGER – CONTACT US TODAY !
Animal Health Center
1147 Boughton St.
Watertown, WI 53094
t: (920) 261-4020
f: (920) 261-7484
Also serving Oconomowoc, WI and surrounding areas.
Hours
Monday: 8am – 6pm
Tuesday: 8am – 5pm
Wednesday: 8am to Noon
Thursday: Noon – 8pm
Friday: 8am to Noon for appointments, Noon to 5pm lobby only.
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