Sallie K. Phillips, DVM, Owner

Veterinarian

From the very beginning, animals have been a part of my life. Since before I can remember, my mother said that 2 orange kitties slept in my crib and comforted me. On long trips when we drove for hours to my grandparents, I would be examining the lips, mouth and ears of our dear old patient Labrador retriever. Mom said she should have known then I would become a vet. Even my brother’s cat woke me up having kittens on my bed. Throughout my life growing up, I was surrounded by our dogs and cats and later horses. All of these were close family members as was the occasional tortoise we rescued in the desert where I grew up. 

While I was in high school, I became inspired when I read about women veterinarians working in the many fields of veterinary medicine. I had not realized that was a real career option for me. The more I looked into it the more determined I was to take my love of animals and my aptitude for science and combine them into a lifelong passion. I love the healing profession, the nobility of all the animals I treat and, the challenge of understanding them not only medically but behaviorally and emotionally. I love internal medicine, which is like solving a mystery, and the boost I get when I am able to return an ill pet to a healthy state. I have come to love seeing the bond that develops between the human “parents” and their pets and the loving care they give those pets. 

I started my practice here in Auberry in 1984 to meet the need of the foothill community. It is so close to Huntington Lake where I spent my summers as a child at our cabin at Lakeshore. As I have often stated over the years to friends, I never could see myself in “brick building Fresno”. I love the rural beauty of our area and the genuine friendliness of the foothill and mountain people. 

My hobbies center on my own animals, my yellow lab, Sparrow, one kitty, and my wonderful palomino Morgan horse, Sam. I drive Sam in my carriage for pleasure and competitively, often with Sparrow in the vehicle with me. I also trail ride over the local foothill area and in the Sierra, often packing into the high country.

Education: U.C. Davis

Rebecca

Registered Veterinary Technician, & Office Manager

Rebecca was surrounded by animals all of her life. Most of Rebecca’s childhood pictures include family pets and any number of other animals. Working in the veterinary field had always been a dream of hers so when her children were old enough, Rebecca enrolled at San Joaquin Valley College. She graduated top of her class with a degree in Veterinary Technology. After passing state boards and obtaining the title of Registered Veterinary Technician, she returned to SJVC as an instructor teaching future technicians. 

Rebecca has lived in Prather for nearly 25 years and both of her sons graduated from Sierra Unified School District. She and her family share their home with a number of 'rescues' including their dog, Leia, and 5 cats. 

In her free time, Rebecca does various period crafts, such as bobbin lace and tatting, which she demonstrates for the historical society at various functions throughout the valley. 

Education: San Joaquin Valley College

Brittni

Veterinary Assistant

Brittni started her journey of becoming a Veterinary Technician at San Joaquin Valley College in 2014 finishing her education in January of 2017. She grew up in Fresno and has always had an animal in her life. She was an active member of the FFA and the Ag. Academy during her high school years. While in FFA she showed both rabbits and chickens at the big Fresno Fair where she took home multiple blue ribbons. After graduating from high school, she became even more determined to work in the veterinary medicine field. Her passion for animals stems from when she was young and was surrounded by livestock and other animals. There wasn’t a day that went by when she wasn’t dreaming of or thinking about helping animals and getting into veterinary medicine. 

Her hobbies outside of animals revolve around camping and being outdoors, reading and drawing. Still, her hobbies always reach back to her love of animals. 

Education: San Joaquin Valley College

 Mairead

Inventory Manager and Bookkeeper

Mairead was born in Ireland. She came to the USA as a young girl. Always very active in sports, she played soccer, softball, field hockey and basketball. She also coached youth soccer and softball.

As a young man in Ireland, Mairead's dad trained greyhounds. Growing up she was always surrounded by dogs and had a special bond with the family dogs. As an adult, she has always had at least 2 dogs usually Lab mix. Since she grew up either kicking, throwing, or hitting a ball, they seem to be a grand breed for her as they love to fetch. 

Mairead says she cannot imagine her life without a dog it.

Miss Moppet 

Hospital Mascot

 On Saturday August 4, 2018 one of our vet techs, Brittni, heard tiny Meows outside of her window. She found a tiny little fuzzy kitten with her mouth full of mats and foxtails, she was also very skinny and listless. Brittni took the time to gently get the matted fur and foxtails out of the little kitty's mouth so she could eat and drink again. She brought her to the hospital on Monday the 6th. The first thing we did was run a test to make sure she didn't have Leukemia. Thank goodness  she was leukemia free. The next step was to check her for any intestinal parasites, which unfortunately she did have some parasites, later that night she was given medication to deworm her, now she is parasite free! Moppet still didn't seem to have the energy and did not act like a normal kitten, which concerned us all. Brittni brought her back every day, worried that something was still not right. We did a blood count on her, and it turned out that Brittni was correct. She was diagnosed with anemia. We gave her a B12 injection and special recovery food. Brittni continues to bring her back every day so we could all keep an eye on her through out the busy days that we had. We kept her warm with a heating disk with a fuzzy cover on it, which she loved! The little kitten  slowly got better and better, now she is as playful as she should be. She loves to sit on top of her heating disk, like little miss Muppet who sat on her tuffet, which is where her name comes from. Miss Moppet has replaced Rum Tum as the hospital mascot, after Rum retired to another staff members home. Moppet loves to play with toys and things that aren't toys, she loves running around on the ground and across our desks, as she helps us work.