Meet Our Staff
Management
Bonnie Hill, KCAAP President, is responsible for the overall management of the clinic (funding sources, territory growth, and day-to-day clinic operations). Bonnie has over 20 years experience in the medical industry from management, marketing, sales, revenue assessment, billing and collections, compliance, profit/loss and product development. Along with your responsibilities at the clinic she sits on the Board of Directors at KCAAP and SPAYTEXAS an organization developed to solve the State wide problem of pet overpopulation through spay/neuter.
Susan Whiteley, Director of Office/Clinic Operations. Her employment with KCAAP began as a contractor generating ad-hoc reports and programs needed to assist with financial reporting and animal scheduling. With over 30 years experience in designing, developing, and supporting high quality reliable software products, she is bringing a new world of computer automation to KCAAP. She and her husband have resided in Kaufman for 11 years and are the owners of a Chihuahua that was rescued from the side of the road (thanks to Linda!).
Spay/Neuter Veterinarians
KCAAP uses only experienced high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter vets to provide daily surgeries. All of the independent veterinarians we contract with either own their own practice or work at other small animal practices in the North Texas area, they specialize in high-volume spay/neuter. They do spay/neuter because it is a passion and they believe they are making a difference in the life of animals. They know their efforts are reducing the high euthanize rates in the areas we service. These vets are responsible for maintaining the high-quality standards and policies established by this surgical clinic and it's Chief Surgeon. All are highly skilled surgeons.
Jennifer Leigh Lavender, DVM Chief Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project Owner Veterinarian, Metro PAWS Animal Hospital, Dallas TX Dr. Lavender is a 2001 graduate of Texas A&M University. After spending her externship in Austin Texas, she took her first position with Hillside Veterinary Clinic in Dallas as the Surgery Director and Staff Education/Development Coordinator. She then moved on to work four years in emergency veterinary medicine and spent many hours working in the humane field performing high-volume spay neuter. In 2005, she helped KCAAP open our stationary clinic, developing our procedure manual and surgical protocols. She opened her own full-service veterinary hospital in 2006, but still performs surgeries on a regular basis at KCAAP. In her spare time, she is a highly sought after orthopedic surgeon utilized by hundreds of practices in North Texas.
Glen Campbell, DVM Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project Medical Director and Veterinarian, VCA Buckingham Animal Hospital, Garland, TX Surgeon, Friends of the Animals, Cedar Creek Lake, TX Dr. Campbell graduated from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 1988, after receiving his BS in Animal Science from Texas A&M. He spent several years in North Carolina in a mixed practice before returning to Texas. He worked in several mixed (large and small animal) practices before settling on small animal practice. He has worked at VCA Buckingham Animal Hospital in Garland since 2001. Five years ago, he helped to open a high volume spay/neuter in Cedar Creek Lake, TX. They are open every Tuesday, where is performs 50-60 surgeries. In 2007, he was voted by D Magazine as a 'Best Vet in Dallas'.
Melinda Anne Daniels, DVM Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project. After graduating with a BS in Animal Science and Zoology in 1987 from Michigan State University she moved to Houston Texas. There she worked for Baylor College of Medicine in the Children’s Nutritional Research Center for 2 years. Wanting to further her career she was accepted by Texas A & M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1989. In the summer of 1992 she was the only veterinary in student in the nation awarded the summer position to help to try to find a cure for Feline Infection Peritonitis at Auburn University. She graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1993. She worked for a large 4 doctor practice in Houston until she opened her own practice in1997. She ran her own private practice until it was destroyed by the flooding caused by Tropical storm Allison in 2001. She taught at Houston Community College while establishing a small rescue-only non-profit practice, the OSCAR Fund. Here she worked with her passion of helping people rescue dogs and cats in North Houston, doing low-cost spay/neuters, heartworm treatments, orthopedic and other needed surgery or medical procedures. She met her future husband from Dallas and moved to Terrell Texas. While in DFW she has done relief work all over the area, and high volume surgeries for the SPCA of Texas, until finding her place at KCAAP. Dr. Daniels has many pets of her own including dogs, cats and horse. She likes to take in hard luck cases and find homes for them. She is passionate about spay/neuter and is very excited about her relationship with KCAAP.
Shirita Calhoun Bronston, DVM Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project Pet Vax, Rowlett TX Independent Contractor, Preventative health care and high-volume spay/neuter. After receiving her Bachelor of Science from Tuskegee University, Dr. Bronston went on to LSU School of Veterinary Medicine graduating with her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in May 1999. After working several years in private small animal practice, she opened Pet Vax, a companion mobile practice based out of Rowlett TX. She also works as an Independent Contractor for other small animal practices and high volume spay/neuter clinics.
Thelbert "Bert" Childers, DVM
Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project
Veterinarian and Board of Directors, SPCA of Texas
Dr. Childers graduated "Mizzou" with a degree in Agriculture in 1965 and
earned his DVM designation in 1967 from the University of Missouri. His
career as a veterinarian took off quickly and he eventually opened the
Dallas-based acclaimed and highly successful Lovers Lane Animal Hospital in
1978. He retired in 1997 from his private practice, but that word is not in
his vocabulary when it comes to helping animals. You will see Dr. Childers
at the SPCA of Texas where he performs hundreds of needed surgeries over the
course of a weekend, training new vets on high volume techniques or
developing outreach programs for successful adoption. He has been on the
Board of Directors for the SPCA in Dallas since 1979. He has spent his life
doing something to help animals. In 2008 he received the SPCA of Texas
Lifetime Achievement Award and Distinguished Alumni of the University of
Missouri Award. He fills in at KCAAP on a 30 minute notice if one of our
regular vets is out ill or on call for vacation duty.
Tiffany Tobaben, DVM Surgeon, Kaufman County Animal Awareness Project Self-employed Relief Veterinarian, Texas Dr. T was raised in Plano, Texas and attended Texas A&M University for her undergraduate and veterinary degree. She graduated from veterinary school in 2001. She has practiced in Dallas, Texas since her graduation. Dr. Tobaben has an interest in surgery, pain management, dentistry, and progressive medicine. Dr.Tobaben has many pets of her own. She has an Australian shepard mix named Cali, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel named Jersey, a turtle named Patch, a domestic shorthaired cat named Abby, and a California Kingsnake. All of her pets are rescue animals and are a special part of her life. Dr. Tobaben is involved with multiple non-profit organizations that help decrease the animal overpopulation problem in Dallas and works regularly at the Rutherford Veterinary Hospital.
Customer Service Staff
Linda Wright, Customer Service Manager, is responsible for the day-to-day communications with the customers who come into KCAAP. Her focus is to be sure that all customers (including our people customers) are treated with respect, kindness and are happy with their experience here. She is responsible for making sure our billing is correct and follow up on patients are complete.
Rhonda Houston-Black, Billing Coordinator. After Rhonda Left Dallas in January 2008 and moved to Scurry Texas she went to work for Experience Works. This federally funded program placed her at KCAAP for 18 months. After we moved into the new facility, KCAAP hired Rhonda to perform the task of billing our surgery patients. She is also in control of our pharmacy and inventory control. She believes her dreams have come true and she loves working here. She hopes to work here until she retires. Never has any office anywhere mean so much to her. She lives happily with her Great Pyrenees, Bear, and her Bengal cat, Kira.
Christi Fiatte, Appointment Scheduler; works the front office taking over 100 calls per day, confirming appointments and answering questions from clients. This is a very busy position and Christi handles the pace well. She always has a smile on her face and is ready to help owners wade though the paperwork. She is the mother of two great boys which keep her quite busy with baseball, football and soccer games. She is an animal lover with 2 dogs and 3 horses. She enjoys riding, going to softball games and spending time with her family and friends.
Technical Staff
Whitney Wright has been with KCAAP for almost 3 years. She works as a veterinary technician and is working towards her certification. She is the proud mother of an English Bulldog. She enjoys dealing with dogs and cats and loves her job at KCAAP.
Kendall Hailey has been working with animals since 2007. It is her passion to help them and spread education on better care for pets. She loves working at KCAAP because we make it affordable for everyone to own and care for a healthy pet.
Jennifer Buckner has been working with KCAAP since August 2009. She came to KCAAP from a full service clinic where she learned her basic veterinary technician skills. She is also working towards her technical certification though the Texas Veterinary Medical Association. She is the mother of 2 boys. She works at KCAAP to try and make a difference in the homeless pet population.
Transport Staff
Dave Solomon, Transport Driver: He has been with KCAAP for almost 3 years. Dave works tirelessly, sometimes starting out at 4 am and returning back to the clinic after 8 pm, transporting animals to the clinic and then back to their owners safely. Our transport unit is in the field at least 4 days per week. Dave patiently checks in and load animals in the rain, cold, or heat. His top priority is making sure that his animals are comfortable and stress free on the trip to the clinic. When not transporting animals in the Critter Cruiser, he is helping at the clinic with vaccinations, surgery prep and a mountain of others things. We call him our 'Jack of all Trades.' In his spare time he volunteers for Animal Allies of Texas (a rescue group) at Microchip clinics and Adoption events.