Our team
The 2008 PhilaPets Team Outing. What a beautiful bunch!
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Trust is everything
You will feel safe and secure entrusting your pets and your house to a PhilaPets Pet Care Specialist who is
not only a die-hard animal lover, but is also trained, insured, bonded, and background-checked.
Most importantly, we love and take pride in what we do. We can't wait to become great friends with your
furry family members!
Meet our team
Click on a Pet Care Specialist's name to read his/her bio. Sign up now to meet
your future Pet Care Specialist!
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Deirdre Frey, VMD 
President
Owner
Veterinarian
Deirdre graduated from Cornell University's Engineering School in 1999.
After being a Web developer and consultant with Sapient in Boston for a few years, she left her job
to finally pursue her dream of becoming a veterinarian.
In preparation, she worked as a veterinary technician at South Bay Veterinary Group
in Boston. In August of 2003, she moved to Philadelphia and worked part-time at the VCA
Cat Hospital while starting PhilaPets.com and applying to veterinary school.
Deirdre has been around animals her whole life, growing up with dogs and cats and hamsters
and birds and gerbils and fish and frogs and various other creatures. She's been involved in programs such as
Phinney's Friends. She also
has spent time at the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society doing spay and neuter work.
Deirdre had two life dreams since she was a child: to have her own business and to work with animals. PhilaPets married the two. Helping to create and build PhilaPets
has truly been one of the most rewarding, challenging, and exciting ventures she has ever been a part of in her entire life. The pets, clients, and Pet Care Specialists she has gotten to know
over the years have all been absolutely wonderful. She continues to instill in the company a sense of superb quality, attentive customer service, and active community involvement.
After four intense but incredible years,
Deirdre graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine in May 2008.
She is currently investigating job opportunities and enjoying some newfound time to become more heavily involved with PhilaPets.
Deirdre is very lucky to share her home with her lovely and
mischievous kitties Coda and Joey
and dog Ginger Rose.
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Zeth Weissman
Web Developer
Owner
Zeth Weissman has been working as an independent contractor building database driven, dynamic Web sites for the last
10 years. He is a graduate of Drexel University, earning his BS in Computer Science in 1998.
One of his online accomplishment is the development and maintenance of the
My PhilaPets.com- Online Scheduling System, a place for clients to
schedule services for their pets and a tool to coordinate and communicate scheduling and client information.
Zeth is a gadget geek. Huge fan of his Tivo Series 3, HD, and a proud iPhone 3G carrier!
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Carolyn Michel
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Carolyn Michel has been with PhilaPets since May 2004. She is a Certified Veterinary Technician and graduate of
Harcum College's Veterinary Technology
program in Bryn Mawr.
Currently, Carolyn is a nurse at the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania, working with cat and dog patients, as well as the
occasional ferret. Prior to this, she received her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the
University of New Mexico, and worked for several years in the area of child care assistance
for low-income families. Carolyn lives in the Art Museum area of the city with her three
cats, Nubie,
Cleo and
Charlie.
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Meghan Kohlhepp
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Meghan is currently attending veterinary school at University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to that, she has been working as a veterinary technician for six years with a
year and a half at the VCA Cat Hospital near Rittenhouse Square. She has two cats,
Ethel and Ember, and a dog, Millie. She loves animals and will continue to pet sit as her schedule permits
while attending vet school.
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Angie Simononis
Pet Care Specialist
Community Outreach Coordinator
Some of Angie's earliest memories of family pet's include an earth worm bound in band aids, saving
gold fish from the local fair, and a dog named Stinky. She rode horses through Junior High School and
eventually owned a former race horse that she could not control at all, but loved dearly.
She went on to graduate from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she focused
on natural history and environmental education. She has had several years of experience working as an
environmental educator, and with that has come some exciting opportunities to work with animals of all
kinds and the people who are fascinated by them.
Angie owns 2 Russian Tortoises and an 8 year-old gold fish, and up until recently, cared for her
late family dog, Benjamin Brown Tree. She misses him immensely.
When not walking dogs or looking in on kitties, she volunteers in the Live Animal Center at the
Academy of Natural Sciences here in Philadelphia. There she is learning to handle and care for birds,
mammals and reptiles from all over the world.
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Alice Hsu
Pet Care Specialist
Alice has always loved animals, and over the years, has been the proud
primary caretaker of dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, and mice. She graduated
in 2000 with a bachelor's in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from
Princeton University, after which she enrolled in a dual V.M.D./Ph.D.
program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently in the
graduate portion of the program, working in an Immunology for her
dissertation.
Alice has worked as a vet tech or nurse at various animal
hospitals around Princeton, Baltimore, and Philadelphia since 1999 and has
enjoyed dog/cat-sitting on the side as a means to relax since
grade school. She has lived in Philadelphia for almost five years and
shares an apartment in center city with her pets,
Rumble,
Katie, and
Joey.
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Rob Reed
Pet Care Specialist
Rob Reed recently graduated magna cum laude from Temple University with a degree in Journalism.
Since graduation he has worked as a screen printer and graphic designer for
Brilliance Clothing.
Rob has had a long career in pet care. All the way back in fifth grade, he got his first job walking dogs
for a few of his teachers. From there he took care of many dogs, cats, turtles, and birds all through middle
school, junior high, and high school. At 16, Rob became vegetarian, and at 18 he went completely vegan.
Rob currently has one cat, Koston, who he found on the street three years ago when she was only two weeks old.
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John DiBartolomeo
Neighborhood Manager
John was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island. John pursued a
short but sweet career on TV shows and can be seen in certain reruns
of "Ed" and "Third Watch".
John's serious interests include filmmaking, writing music, Website
Design and woodworking. On rainy days, he can usually be found in front
of his Mac doing everything except for the woodworking.
John's favorite memory is the terrifying night that his Alaskan
Husky-mix saved him from being mauled by a mother bear and her cub.
He likes the story because his instincts told him to run and yell and
Maple's instincts told her to stay calm. He grudgingly followed his
dog's instincts (she had previously found a rattler and warned him) and
eventually the bears left and left him with his limbs.
John currently lives in West Philadelphia with
Clover, a Golden Retriever
with a sincere love for bouncy balls, bed and stuffed animals, his wife, and
Dilly, a
longhaired black cat with an undying love for trouble.
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Krista Milito
Pet Care Specialist
Krista has been working with animals since 1998. She
is a strong advocate for animal rescue. She spent
several years volunteering in shelters and working
with the People/Pet Partnership.
Krista lives with a house full of rescues.
Zoey,
the house matriarch, was
adopted at the age of 3.5 years old, after she gave
birth to a litter in the shelter.
Macy
entered shelter life at only two weeks old. Krista bottle fed
her, while Zoey mothered her.
Jezebel
was brought into PACCA pregnant, she gave birth to 4 kittens.
Krista raised the very young new mother and her
kittens in her bathroom. She placed two of the
kittens in a home and kept the other two,
Cyan and
Wednesday.
It just happened that she ended up with all girls.
Krista is also a photographer and spent
several years in the photo business. To see her work,
visit kristamilito.com.
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Kim Vargas
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Kim graduated in May of 2004 from
Harcum College's Veterinary Technology program. She passed the certification
test and is currently working as a Vet Tech at VCA Cat Hospital of Philadelphia.
Kim shares her home with 3 cats (Gypsy, Larry, and October), and a cocker spaniel, Rusty. She has always loved animal, always had pets,
and always wanted to be a vet since she was very little.
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Rachel Dukeman
Pet Care Specialist
Rachel recently moved back to Philadelphia after finishing college at
the University of Pittsburgh where she studied Communication and the
History of Art and Architecture. Her studies also took her to Rome,
Italy where she studied art history through Temple University Rome.
She is now attending the University of the Arts' Graduate School of
Museum studies for an MA in Museum Communication.
A long time animal enthusiast, Rachel currently has no pets.
Her dog Taylor, an English Springer Spaniel, is enjoying his old age at
her parents house in Bucks County. While specializing with dogs,
Rachel also takes care of cats and has cared for iguanas, rats,
rabbits, birds and small domestic animals.
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Danny Stein
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Danny has been working exclusively in the animal care field for the past 8
years. He attended UMASS Amherst and studied Pre-Veterinary medicine. He's
worked as a veterinary technician in a variety of clinical settings including:
non-profit humane society hospital, a board certified internal medicine practice
and a private clinic focusing on exotics. He has devoted an immense amount
of time to studying the topics of canine behavior and has worked extensively with
hard-to-handle dogs in a shelter environment.
Danny is the editor-in-chief and lead writer for the Web site DogGuide.net.
He also sits on the Board of Directors for City Kitties.
Danny has a crew of pets including Lucian
(a Dogue De Bordeaux) and Reef
(an American Pit Bull Terrier) as well as 3 rescued cats.
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Cindy Miller
Pet Care Specialist
Cindy Miller has been pet-sitting for over 10 years.
After receiving a BA in Fine Art (painting) from Rutgers University, she went on to join the corporate world working in a Center
City ad agency. While working during the day, she also attended school at night for certification in Graphic Design.
After years of that rat-race, she began working in non-profits: Calcutta Hospice, Thrift for AIDS,
and finally as an accredited counselor in a halfway house.
She left there to start her own pet-sitting business in 1997 and has now brought her talents and experience to PhilaPets.
Cindy is also certified in Pet First-Aid.
She lives in West Philly, sharing space with assorted family members and her cat: Judah (long-haired tuxedo).
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Mary Beth Boland
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Mary Beth Boland has been working in veterinary hospitals in Philadelphia for the
past three years. She is finishing up her course work at
Harcum College's Veterinary Technician
program and will graduate in spring 2009. In addition to working for PhilaPets,
Mary Beth works part time at the Cat Doctor in Fairmount and in the emergency department of
the Matthew J. Ryan veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.
After obtaining her CVT licence, she hopes to eventually specialize in emergency and
critical care.
In the little free time she has these days, Mary Beth loves to ride her bike, garden,
read nerdy children's fantasy novels, and watch bad TV. She has a full house at home
with two Boston Terriers
(Ellie and
Lelo), four cats
(Andy,
E-mail,
Lucy, and
Pickles), two box turtles, a colony of millipedes, and a few tarantulas.
Though she loves all animals, Mary Beth is particularly fond of grouchy old
cats. She looks forward to meeting your dogs, cats, ferrets, rats, birds, (pet)
bugs, and houseplants.
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Brittany Beall
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Brittany is originally from New Mexico and moved to Philly
to attend University of Pennsylvania.
She graduated May 2006 with her undergraduate degree in classical studies.
Brittany has spent a couple of years working as a vet tech in small animal
practice in Philly and has spent some time volunteering in Emergency Services at VHUP.
She is currently attending veterinary school at UPenn ('09) and hope to go
into small animal practice, possibly pediatrics, when she graduates.
Brittany resides in center city with her dog
Whiskey,
two cats Sophie and Piper, and two chinchillas, Monster and Nyx.
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Claire Kendall
Pet Care Specialist
Claire landed in Philadelphia after spending some time working in theater
production in New York City and Los Angeles. She grew up with a Rottweiler and
various cats. Claire is actively increasing her knowledge of animal behavior in a
hands-on way.
Claire is also a proofreader and amateur editor.
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Peter Spayde
Pet Care Specialist
A Philadelphian since birth, Peter has been pet sitting both independently and with pet sitting companies since 2002. After a short but good effort at the full time rat race, he has returned to doing what he loves.
When not pet sitting, you can find Peter on the tennis courts, behind a potter's wheel, out dancing, at a yoga studio, or at home gardening in Bella Vista with his children.
Nimanee, the feline snow princess,
Luca, the menacing Miniature Pincher,
Bully, the bluffing Betta, and
Orangina, Mango, & Slim the Goldfish
all work together to keep his home welcoming.
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Dionne Heard
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Dionne has been a vet tech for almost 5 years. The majority of her vet tech
years were spent working at The Cat Doctor. She is currently work at the
University of Pennsylvania's vet school in the pharmacy and in its
Intensive Care Unit. In addition, Dionne is also doing research part-time in
the vet school's medical genetics lab. She graduated from Penn State with a
BS in Animal Bioscience and is currently taking post-baccalaureate courses at
Drexel to possibly apply to veterinary school or to pursue a master's
degree in laboratory animal science or pathobiology (not quite decided yet).
Dionne has 3 cats (Que-14, Trinity-4, Fake Fendi-2) and a chihuahua named Link
who is about 3 years old now. She loves her animals very much and they are
definitely a huge part of her family.
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Vanessa Jarymovych
Pet Care Specialist
Vanessa received her Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Virginia Tech University
in 1997. After a few years working in the corporate world and a mix of
restaurants, she decided to follow her dream of working with animals and
received a certificate in Professional Pet Grooming from Maryland School of Dog
Grooming. Vanessa has been a professional dog groomer for over 7 years and has
worked in several grooming shops in the Philadelphia area. After over 3 years of
grooming full-time she decided to start grooming from her home in the evenings to
provide a more stress-free grooming experience for her clients. Right now,
Vanessa, has a full-time job at the UPENN Veterinary Hospital as grants
coordinator for the Department of Clinical Studies. Although she loves grooming she
has cut back considerably to spend more time pursuing other interests and
spending more time with family and friends.
Vanessa's other animal related jobs include: kennel assistant, horse stable manager,
dog obedience apprentice and volunteer with People Pet Partnership. She lives
in Center City with her husband, Doberman Stanley, and 2 cats,
Stella and Pan Ihor.
Vanessa enjoy walks in the park, reading, drawing, cooking and eating exotic foods!
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T. K. Ritchie
Pet Care Specialist
T was born and raised in Philadelphia, and grew up in a large,
diverse, loving family. She spent years working with special
needs children with athletics and music. Her love for animals
grew when she discovered a litter of kittens in her basement
that had been abandoned by their mother. She bottle fed and
raised them, and over a few months (and an intense interview
process...) she placed all the kittens into good, loving homes.
T currently lives near the Art Museum, with her beautiful
wife and 4 kids: 2 rescued pitbulls, Memphis and Cherry Bomb;
2 chihuahuas, Whiskey and Roxanne. While not at work, T
spends her time skateboarding, designing custom tattoos,
and playing guitar.
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Christi Brown
Pet Care Specialist
Born and raised in Houston Texas, animal lover Christi Brown moved to
Philadelphia in 2003. She has been helping to find better lives for
homeless animals since 1998. Christi is very close with her friends
and family, and has her own family here in Philadelphia, her three
adopted cats. Amos the trouble maker, Laina the needy mama and her
son Frank, the mature & self- proclaimed king of the house constantly
remind Christi why she's dedicated her life to animal care.
After years in retail management, Christi decided to devote all of her time
to animal welfare. She has volunteered for many pet adoption events,
because she loves all animals, except maybe spiders! Christi joined
the PhilaPets team in 2006, and has been mentioned by
CitySearch.com
for her superior pet care and service.
When not caring for pets,
Christi loves to travel, enjoys films, is an avid reader, and has
talent for fine arts, especially decoupage. Her pride and joy is her
Kinetic TFR moped, imported from India! She may be seen all over the
city with the wind in her hair, traveling to and from her pet visits.
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Rebecca Jay
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Rebecca grew up in Plymouth Meeting, a suburb of Philadelphia. She graduated from
Plymouth Whitemarsh High School class of 2003 and moved to the city to attend
college at Temple University. She will be graduating in May,2007 with a
BS in Biology. At Temple she has been involved in music (marching band and
concert band) as well as a member and webmaster of the Biology Society,
a group that promotes interest and networking in the Biology field.
She hopes to attend Drexel University to earn her certification and MS in
Lab Animal Science, and eventually go on to Veterinary School at the University
of Pennsylvania.
Rebecca started out working in many kennels during summer vacation. In 2004, she
landed a position at Hickory Veterinary Hospital as a Technician in training on
nights and weekend. After about one year of training she moved into the city,
where she started working for Society Hill Veterinary Hospital as a Technician,
part time during school. Rebecca left Socienty Hill after about a year and joined
Philapets in September of 2006.
In her life she has had many pets. It all started with a rabbit when she was 8,
then her zoo slowly grew to include a guinea pig, 2 hampsters that eventually turned
into 14 hampsters, 2 rats, a mouse, 2 gerbils, and anywhere from 4-9 cats. Rebecca
loves all animals, but she would have to say when asked, cats are her favorite,
especially black cats.
Currently, she only has one cat, Tao, whom she adopted from a technician at Society
Hill Veterinary Hospital.
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Megan Haines
Pet Care Specialist
Megan graduated from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in
2000 with her BS in environmental studies, and has worked at various
consulting companies in southeastern Pennsylvania for the last six
years. She also worked at the Brandywine Conservancy
in their Environmental Management Center, creating maps for their
land preservation programs.
Megan grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania surrounded by woods,
farmland, and plenty of animals. At one point her families' brood
included chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, parakeets, hamsters, an iguana,
and a pig named Misery. She is hoping to attend
Harcum College's Veterinary Technology
program and continue a career doing what she loves.
She and her husband, Christopher, live in Center City, and enjoy
traveling, camping, hiking, cooking, and photography. They are planning
to adopt a furry friend as soon as they move into an apartment that
allows pets.
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Rachel Shusman
Pet Care Specialist
Rachel is a Philly native who attended Syracuse University. She received
her BFA in Surface Pattern Design, where she was trained to design
graphics for textiles, home furnishings and paper products. She went
on to work in NYC as a textile designer for a sleepwear company. While in
NYC she also devoted a portion of her time to volunteering with
NY Cares,
where she was involved in projects such as teaching art, cleaning up
city parks and painting murals in schools. After a few years, she decided
she was ready to move on and share her passion for art with others.
Rachel recently moved back to Philadelphia to pursue her certification in
Art Education at Moore College of Art and Design. She lives in an
apartment in Old City, and couldn't be happier to be home!
Rachel loves animals, and grew up in a household where she always had pets,
from large golden retrievers to energetic cockapoos, to goldfish, hamsters
and parakeets. She is currently living without a pet and she is more than
thrilled to be working with PhilaPets to fill that missing void in her life!
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Anna Shipp
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Ever since she was young lass, Anna always wanted to be a veterinarian, and
worked as a vet-tech for 4 years and studied pre-vet for two. But she has
since changed course drastically, and is currently a social worker. She hopes
to someday go back to school and be involved in education reform. She still loves
all the critters of the world however, large and small, furry and not so furry, so
Anna moonlights as a pet-care specialist for PhilaPets.
Anna was raised just outside of our Nation's capitol but has found Philadelphia
to feel much more like home, which has led Anna to buy a lovely little house in
South Philadelphia. Anna is very proud of herself for this accomplishment. Her
two cats, Fish and Babes, are much happier too, now that they have more space
than in that teeny little one-bedroom apartment they had to share with Anna for
far too long.
Oh, and Anna loves riding her bicycle.
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Miriam Fernandez
Pet Care Specialist
Weekend ManagerVeterinary Technician
Originally from New York, Miriam moved to Philadelphia in June of 2006 after
falling in love with the city. Ever since she was a little girl she has always
loved all kinds of animals and knew she wanted a career working with them.
She attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick were she obtained a Bachelor's
degree in Animal Science and has worked as a veterinary technician for
over 2 years now. She is currently working full time at The Cat Doctor,
and enjoys getting her "dog fix" through PhilaPets.
She currently shares her apartment in Center City with three very spoiled cats;
Sebastian,
Vincent, and
Duncan,
and a very grumpy bunny but very cute, bunny named
Milton.
Staying with her parents in New York is her 15 year-old cat named
Hector,
whom she tries to visit as much as she can.
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Jennica Tucker
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Jennica's love for animals began at a young age. She lived in the British Virgin Islands for three years
where she volunteered at the Tortola Humane Society. In 2003 she moved to Philadelphia to pursue her college
career. She is graduating from Temple University in December of 2007 with a B.S. in Kinesiology. She has been
working as a veterinary technician at The Cat Doctor for two and a half years and is planning on attending
veterinary school in 2008.
When Jennica is not at school or working she enjoys cooking, cleaning, singing, traveling, reading, and playing
board games. She lives in South Philadelphia with her partner Chase, her 12 year old cat
Purdy, her adopted 6 year old cat
Alice, her Pomeranian
Adelaide, and her newest addition
Roxie.
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Danielle (Reba) DiBartolomeo
Pet Care Specialist
Reba was born in San Francisco. She has lived in California, Minnesota, North Dakota,
New York, and Pennsylvania. She refuses to comment on the authenticity of Fargo and
Napoleon Dynamite in terms of life in the Midwest. Her first career was working with
autistic adults in the community and at their home.
Her hobbies include art, baking, crafts, geology, science experiments,
demolition derbies, video games and reading. She currently pursues some of
these hobbies in her South Philadelphia home and often conspires / collaborates on
projects with her husband, John (also with PhilaPets).
Polliwogs to Pekingese, she loves animals and has made John pull over on a number of
occasions to preserve and protect any number of animals. She currently resides with her
husband, John, Clover and Dilly and she insists that Dilly is not a trouble maker because
she taught the cat everything she knows.
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Dawn Cowle
Pet Care Specialist
Dawn is a native of Las Vegas, NV and has been an animal lover since she was
a little girl. She's a graduate of the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico
where she received her BFA in Theatre. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2005
she's worked at the Walnut Street Theatre as a Casting/Literary Apprentice,
assistant directed at the Prince Music Theatre and Walnut St. Theatre, and
started her own production company
To The Wall Productions,
which she is also the Co- Producing Artistic Director.
Though her current landlord doesn't allow pets, she hopes to adopt in the
near future; until then, she's content taking care of the dogs and cats in
the PhilaPets family.
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Katherine Veri
Service Coordinator
Ever since Katherine graduated from Penn State University she has
traveled all around the US. Having lived in California for 5 years she
traveled up and down the coast visiting the diverse environments within
the state. This led Katherine to frequently use a pet care services for
her two beloved Pugs, Tiger and Baxter.
Katherine has experienced both the good and the bad when it comes to
professional pet care providers and is confident that she knows
very well from personal experience what a client expects and what a protective
pet parent needs.
Katherine traveled back to Pennsylvania to seek an opportunity within the
pet care industry. Currently, she has applied and accepted a volunteer position
with PAWS and has aspirations to help with other local animal welfare
organizations. She is very proud to be apart of PhilaPets
and will do her best to help coordinate the PhilaPets.com Team to care for your animal.
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Rhoda Crawford
Pet Care Specialist
Rhoda moved to Philly in 2005 from Atlanta to start her own real estate appraisal company. After being in the business since 1997,
she has decided to split her time between appraising and joining PhilaPets in order to satisfy her thirst for working with animals.
She's always had a special connection with animals and has spent her time volunteering for animal welfare through Greater
Philadelphia Cares, Petfinder.com and PACCA. In her spare time she enjoys photography, traveling, and designing Halloween décor
and jewelry.
Rhoda currently lives in Fishtown with her boyfriend and their four magnificent rescues:
Bailey;
Pen-Pen;
Mochi Belle, and the canine comedian,
Otto Kane. Rhoda's nurturing love and devotion for her animals are happily extended to all of the little ones in the
PhilaPets family.
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Melissa Abt
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Profile Coming Soon!
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Andrew Pack
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Richard Way
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Harry Finnimore
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Amy Melvin
Weekend Manager
Pet Care Specialist
Amy is finishing up her graduate degree in Art Education at Tyler School of Art. Although
teaching and creating art have become a career focus, Amy has always been an animal lover and an
outdoor enthusiast who possesses an extreme environmental conscious. She enjoys a vegetarian
lifestyle and travels by bike – a very convenient mode of transportation for us city dwellers.
Amy began working for PhilaPets in the spring of 2008, desiring a pet care position because
it would allow her to spend lots of time with animals and be outside most of the day. What she’s
found is that working with PhilaPets has allowed her the opportunity to work with community
organizations dedicated to a better life for animals and a staff who are passionate about pet care.
She plans to stay in Philadelphia, teaching art and caring for the city’s pets that make life so much
more enjoyable.
Amy is currently a weekend manager for PhilaPets and lives in center city Philadelphia with her
fiancé Zach and their retired racing greyhound Fairlea.
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Eric Rillstone
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Amandah Povalitus
Pet Care Specialist
Amandah is currently seeking a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education at Temple University.
After working a number of retail and waitressing jobs, she finally realized that none of
these would work for her; she had to work with animals. An animal lover since birth,
Amandah has grown up with a variety of animals, volunteered at local animal sanctuaries,
has done animal rescue, and has fostered countless animals while helping each one to find
the perfect home. She is also vegan. She currently lives with her dog, Harriet,
and hopes to add more animals to her home as soon as she find a lease that allows her to do so!
When Amandah is not walking dogs, hanging out with animals, or at school, you'll probably
find her at a Phillies game, on the beach, playing one of a number of sports, reading in
the park, or baking cupcakes.
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Brendan Oram
Pet Care Specialist
Determination, Diligence, Perfection. These are all words
which have been used to describe Brendan Oram's dedication to
being a Pet Care Specialist at PhilaPets.
Brendan became a Pet Care Specialist when he arrived in
Philadelphia. This was due in large part to missing his own
dog, Astro, back home.
As a New York City refugee, Brendan Oram is not afraid of a
leisurely walk of any distance or incline. When not at work
or in school, Brendan Oram enjoys reading, riding his bicycle,
going to parties, and boxing.
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Dan Rosen
Pet Care Specialist
Dan was born and raised in New Jersey in a home filled with birds, fish, hamsters, and
dogs. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Anthropology which he
enjoyed pursuing but has no intention of using. He has worked several jobs ranging
from retail to office work but truly values the freedom to be outdoors and with
animals that PhilaPets allows. Dan resides in the Graduate Hospital area with
his wife, Vera, and although they don't have any pets now, they hope to add a dog
to the family soon. Some of his interests include running, cooking, reading,
and the outdoors.
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Nicole Cook
Pet Care Specialist
Nicole Cook graduated valedictorian in 2007 from Moore College of Art and Design. With a double major in Painting
and Art History. Nicole divided her time between school and several part-time jobs. Always an animal lover (she
grew up with an amazing husky named 'Tasha'), Nicole adopted her first pet, a cat, last year. She now lives in
Fishtown with her cat, Isabelle, and her boyfriend and his cat, Desiree.
Nicole is currently working on her Masters Degree at Temple University and interning in the Arts Collection
department at Blank Rome, Inc. In her spare time, she enjoys watching
Isabelle and
Desiree in their
daily staring contests.
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Nadine Vassallo
Pet Care Specialist
When Nadine was four years old, she convinced her parents to let her bring a
stray cat inside "just for one night." Porchie (so named because she'd lived
on the front porch) stayed with the family for twelve years and Nadine's
love for animals stuck for life.
As a child, Nadine often dreamt of becoming a veterinarian or zoo-keeper. Her
path changed, however, and she found herself graduating from the University of
Pennsylvania with a Women's Studies degree and coordinating volunteer programs
for Philadelphia's WHYY. (Tune in during one of the membership drives and
you might see her on Channel 12!) She remains an animal advocate and
vegetarian, and works part-time with PhilaPets to stay in touch with the
animal kingdom and explore the possibility of returning to her childhood dreams.
A proud native Philadelphian, Nadine lives in West Philly with her boyfriend,
Mark, and their dog, Little Face. She enjoys writing children's stories, watching
Phillies games, and hanging out with your pets.
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Emily Meredith
Pet Care Specialist
Emily Meredith was born into a house of 8 cats in New Haven, CT. She had many
pets growing up, including dogs, fish, a guinea pig and a multitude of cats.
Until recently in her adult life she lived in places that limited her pet-having
to cats, hermit crabs and turtles. Upon moving to Philadelphia, however, she acquired
two dogs,
three cats, and a variety of small caged animals.
Emily has recently become a long-distance commuter, attending graduate school in Bilingual
Early Childhood Education in New York City. She find the vast differences and
amazing similarities between children and animals fascinating and wants to spend her
whole life working with both.
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Sonja Bontrager
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Julie Malone
Pet Care Specialist
Julie Malone was Georgia born and raised for eighteen years, and is a firm believer in Southern Hospitality. In the
summer of 2006, she relocated to Philadelphia to attend the University of the Arts, but has since changed her plan to
include a future in wildlife sciences. She has always been happily surrounded by animals: in her childhood home, through
volunteering with PAWS Atlanta in high school, and recently getting to know her peers just to get closer to their pets...
Julie is currently the happiest girl alive! A transfer student at Temple, working toward becoming a wildlife technician and
working two "jobs"- playing with animals and making freelance arts and crafts. She spends her off time going on peach
picking adventures, laughing, singing to her fat cat Lilly, watching Golden Girls, and playing with other people's pets.
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Megan O'Mara
Pet Care Specialist
Profile Coming Soon!
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Kevin DeFranco
Pet Care Specialist
Originally from Easton PA Kevin moved to Philadelphia in 2005. He
attended several classes and seminars on pet nutrition and animal well being.
Before joining PhilaPets he worked in the sales of holistic and
all natural pet foods trying to educate customers on pet health and
care.
When he is not pet sitting, Kevin loves to paint, write and make
music. He plays 3 different instruments in 3 different bands. He also
loves to ride his bike way to much and hang out with his Italian
Greyhound Bella and his cats Stella and Sammy Davis Jr.
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Scott Monaghan
Pet Care Specialist
Originally from Canada, Scott and his family moved to the Detroit area just a year after he was born. Scott spent the next 27 years in Michigan. After some trials and tribulations Scott decided to quit his job, tour around the country with his best friend/band for 2 months, and then move to Philadelphia.
One of the first things Scott did when he got to the city was adopt his non-human best friend, Sophia Super Commander, a year old pit mix, from PACCA. The second thing he did was begin working with PhilaPets.
When Scott’s not enjoying spending time with tons of awesome animals, “working”, or helping at the front desk at the Matthew J Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania emergency room, you can find Scott writing tons of music (he plays guitar and drums), riding his skateboard, or playing with Sophie.
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Wendy Lenhart
Pet Care Specialist
Wendy works full time as a keeper at the Philadelphia Zoo
and is happy to extend her love for animals outside of the zoo gates to moonlight
for PhilaPets. She has worked at the Zoo for six years and currently
cares for and trains the
southern ground hornbills,
ostriches,
red kangaroos,
and an elderly emu among others. She has previously worked
for the San Antonio Zoo and as an intern at the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.
At home, she has two cats, Smokey and Sibley (named for
David Sibley, the bird artist) and a ball python named Julio who was
abandoned outside in the Northern Liberties. She is a part-time grad
student at Villanova University and is studying song repertoire in
Carolina chickadees.
Wendy is a country girl at heart and hails from
Reading, PA. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, snowboarding,
sketching, watching dorky history documentaries and riding her bike
around the city.
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Robert Lynn
Pet Care Specialist
Veterinary Technician
Robert's beginnings caring for animals took place about 11 years ago when he lived and worked on a vegan farm called Wilderness Ranch Sanctuary for Farm Animals in Masonville, CO. Robert was raised near Allentown, PA so coming to Philadelphia was a nice transition close to family.
After 7 years working at Society Hill Veterinary Hospital he is entering a new chapter in his life. He worked in a few other veterinary facilities but it was his experience as a veterinary technician at SHVH that educated, trained, and developed his style. Dr. Casavecchia and the gang have transcended to friends and family. Philapets was the logical progression for him to utilize his compassion, empathy,and work ethic for animals.
He lives with 3 loyal felines. All befriended from previous vet. clinics. Toby ,a black DSH ,was a stray hit by a car and resulting in the amputation of his right hind leg. He loves to spend time on the deck in the sun, cold and/or rain watching birds/squirrels. Mocho, a red DSH, was a stray coincidentally hit by a car on the same block within 1 month of Toby. His injuries resulted in the amputation of his right front and left hind legs. He hops, leaps, and races throughout the house. Vivian is a black N white DSH. Not much of a story here. She is just darn cute. Past and present pets have added to the strength and determination in giving the best to the animal friends he encounters in other aspects of his life and career.
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= Completed Red Cross certification in Pet First-Aid and CPR
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