Our Doctors
Dr. Justene Tedder
South African born and Canadian trained, Justene is happy to practise veterinary medicine in beautiful Salt Spring Island after spending time in Alberta.
Justene and her husband Christo and their cat Nala moved to the west coast when they bought the clinic in 2012.
Justene is passionate about giving her patients and clients personalized care and comfort.
She is also training in Veterinary Chinese Medicine including Herbal Medicine and is soon to be certified in Veterinary Acupuncture. Dentistry is another passion for Justene as she knows that she makes such a difference to the quality of life for her patients.
Dr. Caroline Matyas
Bio coming soon!
Our Support Staff
Kim – Registered Veterinary Technician and Director of Public Contact
Kim grew up on Salt Spring Island and through numerous career paths and life experiences she has found her passion in veterinary medicine. She started working for us in 2012 as a part-time assistant and is now a Registered Veterinary Technician. She is a Certified Level 3 Fear Free Professional with additional Fear Free certification in horses, birds, and even humans! She loves her job and truly appreciates that all of the skills she has acquired over her lifetime are put to use in her position at the clinic. She loves giving clients and their pets personalized care and attention. Her special interests at work are animal behaviour, nutrition, and client education.
She loves to go backcountry camping with her mare, Tara, and her little dog, Teddy, usually accompanies them! She also has a cheeky miniature horse, Buddy, and a small flock of chickens that she loves. Her most favourite place is on the back of her horse in the wilderness with the sun on her back. She can often be heard to make up her own words and own menus in restaurants!
Gabi – Registered Veterinary Technician and Director of Medical Services
Alex – Veterinary Assistant
Alex has worked in the veterinary field for 9 years and just recently joined our amazing team in January 2024.
She has six cats! Bruno, Pixel, Rusty, Daisy, Odin, and Buddy. They range in age from 2-15 years old. Some were given to her and some had a couple litters. Amazing story – Buddy went for a walk about 10 years ago and was just recently reunited with her, thanks to his microchip!
She also has two dogs – Chaos, who she got as a puppy and is now 13 years old, and a rescue named Heidi who is 15 years old. They are all very food-motivated and have their own little quirks.
Her 10-year plan starts with working towards becoming a Registered Veterinary Technician and she is looking forward to better understanding using Fear Free initiatives to add to her skills.
She is always striving to help animals with as much compassion as she can and is looking forward to all the opportunities that are ahead of her.
She has also started her own Grooming business and works hard to provide her grooming services during the weekends and help pamper everyone’s furry friends.
Outside of working, she enjoys drawing, writing, and reading but currently most of her free time is taken up with school. However, she does try to take some time to relax.
Fiona – Veterinary Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Niall – Veterinary Assistant
Niall joined the clinic in August of 2023 shortly after finishing his undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia. He loves working in veterinary medicine and finds great satisfaction in caring for our client’s treasured animals. He is involved with several responsibilities around the clinic, and is always happy to lend a hand when needed.
Niall is originally from Vancouver and loves spending his weekends exploring our beautiful island. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, climbing, biking, and watching soccer.
Isabel – Veterinary Assistant
Isabel started working for us as a cleaner and is currently attending University. If you are lucky enough you may meet her during her school breaks when she returns to be a part of the team.
Juliana – Veterinary Assistant
Juiliana moved to Canada from Brazil to join our team and has been working with us since January of 2023. In Brazil, she was a Veterinarian and worked with investigating mistreatment and rescuing animals in poor conditions for 8 years. She moved to Canada a year ago with her 13-year old cat, Liz, who also was rescued from poor conditions and now she is a Queen!
She also has a Postgraduate degree in Veterinary Acupuncture in 2021, Portugal and Reiki 3A.
She is very proud to have moved to this amazing Island to start this journey with her cat by her side!
She is enjoying the Island lifestyle and loves to hike, go to the beach, enjoy coffee shops, and spend time with her sweet little cat :)))
Valerie – Client Care Representative
Val joined our team in 2022 with no experience in veterinary medicine except that she loves animals! She has risen to the role and is an amazing Client Care Representative. She is originally from Quebec and can often be heard helping many of our clients in French. She really enjoys helping the team as much as she can and wants to help as many animals as possible.
Val has an 11-year old rescue dog named Maya. She is very energetic for her age and very smart – sometimes a little too smart. She gives the best cuddles and LOVES swimming.
She is an amazing baker and often brings us goodies. Outside of work she likes to travel, enjoys entertaining friends and family by sharing meals, camping and walking with Maya (when she behaves!)
Nadia – Client Care Representative
Nadia is a fresh face for the team and started here in January of 2024 as a Client Care Representative. She excels at being friendly and helpful and is a super addition to our team. She is new to the veterinary industry and is finding her way on this new chapter in her life. We are very glad to have her here!
Nadia has a mixed breed rescue dog named Pepper and a Lynx Point Siamese cat named Indy. She loves them dearly and they are best friends.
She enjoys hiking, swimming, snorkelling, and adventuring into nature and the ocean. Travelling is also a favorite pastime and she enjoys cooking a variety of foods for her family and friends.
Miki – Office Administrator
Miki is our office queen. She keeps our paperwork in line and our inventory updated so we can help our patients best. She is also in charge of our online pharmacy and food store.
Miki is originally from Japan but has lived in Canada for many years. She now lives in Seattle with Neeko the chatty cat, Bella the cuddle dog plus her human husband, and enjoys exploring beautiful PNW with them.
Donna – Virtual Assistant
Donna is a remote worker living in the Philippines. She has been working as a freelancer for more than 13 years. She is an experienced Virtual Administrative Assistant with a demonstrated history of working in the internet industry. She is skilled in web development, training and coaching, data entry, and bookkeeping.
She has 18 dogs — a labrador, a shih tzu, a border collie mix, a poodle, and 14 rescue dogs. For her, dogs are family and that means no one gets left behind.
Christo
Christo is our jack of all trades
His is always ready to lend a helping hand and say “Hi” to the animals!
Ask him about his previous career as a safari guide in South Africa.
Zeena
If you’re lucky, once in a while you might meet a small smiley face at the clinic as Zeena much prefers the cushier lifestyle of being a couch or chair hog!!!
RIP to this cutee. She is now in doggo heaven.