Years in the veterinary field: 18 years

Favorite Animal(s): Birds and pygmy goats

Her fur family: I only have 11 dogs rights now, which is the fewest I’ve had in quite some time. I also have two house cats, a Goffin’s cockatoo, a cockatoo, 1 African Grey, a conure, two macaws, numerous lovebirds, 7 goats, and a sulcata tortoise.

A little more about Melody: My first job as a technician was intended to just be for experience that I could put on my vet application, but I soon realized veterinary nursing was my niche. Looking back, I realize I have always tended to want to care for injured and orphaned animals. For my family, it was a normal thing to have anything from puppies to piglets in our house, usually in various stages of bottle raising or convalescence. I remember my sister and I once had a pair of goslings, Burt and Ernie, that would follow us everywhere, including into the house. That lifestyle had carried over into my adult life, and I’ve been lucky enough to marry someone who supports me in all of my “animal projects,” the most recent of which is bottle raising a baby pygmy goat. I have also recently discovered my passion for birds, specifically large parrots, and am working toward becoming involved in parrot rescue. Last year I began teaching veterinary surgery and anesthesia class for the vet tech program at San Joaquin Valley College, and am enjoying it more than I ever thought possible. I know I’ve chosen the perfect career for myself because each day on the way home from work, no matter which job I’m coming from, I think to myself, “Man, I’m so lucky! I love my life!”