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Tristan HarrisTristan is the practice manager at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital, but also fills in wherever needed. He entered the veterinary field in 2008 as a kennel assistant and has worked in 4 different Charlotte, NC area hospitals, as everything from receptionist to rehabilitation technician. Tristan moved to Roanoke with his wife, Kerri McDermott, in July of 2016, with their intentions to purchase NBAH. Upon gaining ownership in mid-September of 2016, he quickly got to work designing and building NBAH's boarding facility utilizing his experience and views of what has provided the best service to boarders and their owners in his past positions. Tristan has studied psychology and biology at Central Connecticut State University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, and Winthrop University. He also has a background in construction, which was beneficial in the renovations that have been done at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital. In his limited free time, Tristan enjoys playing with his daughters, exploring his new surroundings, hiking, kayaking, fly fishing, and reading. He and his wife also love to travel, and one of their goals is to visit each of the United States's National Parks. Tristan and Dr. McDermott have three dogs, two cats, and two daughters, Kaeleigh and Dylan, who keep them very busy! |
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Emily Anderson, LVTEmily started at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital in 2008. She earned an Associates in Applied Animal Science degree and passed the Veterinary Technician National Exam, becoming a Licensed Veterinary Technician in 2009. She then spent a few years working as an LVT at Southside Animal Hospital in Savannah, GA before returning in 2011 to work continuously at NBAH.
Emily lives with her son in Buena Vista, where she has spent most of her life. In her time away from work, Emily enjoys spending time with her family doing outdoor activities, and karate. She also spends a lot of time training her adopted Labrador rescue dog, Archie. |
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Samantha HenkSamantha grew up in Buffalo, New York and moved to the Rockbridge County area in 2007. Ever since she was young, animals have been a part of her life. She has always had a few dogs and, most of the time, cats as well. She began her career at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital in July of 2017, and is now our full-time receptionist. She is currently in veterinary technician school and is excited to be on the path to her dream of being a licensed technician.
Samantha currently has 2 dogs, Logan, and Charlie. In her free time, She can be found walking Logan and Charlie, crafting, hiking, swimming, fishing, or reading a good book on her front porch. |
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Sara LoSapio-Kirkpatrick, LVTSara earned her Associates of Applied Science degree in Veterinary Technology in 2011 and has worked as a CVT in an advanced small animal practice in Colorado for 10 years. She also spent her weekends working as a Horseback Riding Guide at a resort ranch in the Roosevelt National Forest for 15 years. Sara moved from her hometown in Colorado to Natural Bridge in February 2021 and started as an Licensed Veterinary Technician at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital in March of the same year.
At work, she particularly loves the client education part of her job, and helping clients understand the importance of veterinary care for their furry family members. Away from work, Sara loves to spend time with her 2 sons, husband, and both of her parents at their beautiful farm in Natural Bridge. In her free time, she is always with her family either, camping and fishing, or at the farm in the garden and with all their animals; horses, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, and geese. |
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Marie YearyMarie has lived in Rockbridge County all of her life. She has enjoyed working in healthcare since 1999, and has been very passionate about it. She has always had some sort of pet growing up, including 2 dogs, and even a squirrel named Cookie. She joined the Natural Bridge Animal Hospital family in March as a receptionist. She loves interacting with clients and is pleased to offer her service.
Marie has a 23 year old daughter, and a 19 year old son. She has a 6 year old Plott Hound named Ziggy, and a 1 and a half year old grand-dog named Skylynn. In her free time, she loves being outdoors, camping, kayaking, and floating on the river in the Summer. She is an avid Ginseng hunter and loves spending time with her family, especially on the 4th of July. |
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Gage KellyGage has lived in Rockbridge County his whole life and knew that he wanted a career helping animals from a young age. He has always had dogs growing up and sometimes a few cats here and there. He began his career with Natural Bridge Animal Hospital in June of 2020, and quickly became a very valuable part of the team. He was recently accepted to Virginia Tech’s Dairy Science major on the Pre-Vet track, and will hopefully one day become a licensed veterinarian.
In his free time, Gage likes to hunt, woodwork, hike, landscape, basically anything outdoors. He loves rescuing animals who need good homes, and currently has two rescue dogs of his own, Charlie and Roco. At the moment he also has two rescue cats, Jack and Taz. |
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Nicholas PedullaNick grew up in Akron Ohio and moved to Buena Vista some years ago with his wife, Beth. He came to the area to help take care of family, and get a fresh start after some difficult times. He started at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital as a kennel assistant in August 2021 and truly loves his job. He finds the work to be therapeutic and strives to go above and beyond in the care of our boarders. He prides himself on treating them like his own family and feels blessed to have the opportunity to care for them and make their stay as comfortable as possible.
Nick has been married to his wife, Beth, for 35 years. They have 3 beautiful and supportive daughters, and 2 amazing granddaughters who make his life complete. He takes care of his 2 grand-dogs, Bailey and Gracie, who help make him a better person every day. |
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Nicholas AustinNicholas has lived in the Natural Bridge area his whole life. He recently attended Rockbridge High School, graduating in 2021. He joined Natural Bridge Animal Hospital as a kennel assistant in March 2022 and has been fitting right in. He cares deeply for the animals, and enjoys spending time playing outside with them.
Nicholas has 2 dogs, Chubby and Chewy. In his free time, he likes to hunt, fish, play video games, and go camping. |
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Brenda RatcliffDr. Brenda Ratcliff is a retired neuropsychologist who has always spent any free time in the company of animals. She was first on horseback at six months of age and grew up raising cattle, hogs and chickens on the family farm. Dr. Ratcliff and her family raised, trained and competed Arabian endurance horses all over the U.S. and in several Pan American Games.
She has always had plenty of Jack Russell Terriers and Siamese cats and has lately taken to adopting rescue cats. Dr. Ratcliff is enjoying spending a little of her retirement time with still more animals at Natural Bridge Animal Hospital. |
