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Meet the Doctors

Short Bios

We have a total of 26 licensed Veterinarians and 8 Specialized Veterinarians on our staff. Our doctors come from all over the world and provide a vast area of knowledge and expertise.

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Dr. Arvo Artna

An Ottawa native, Arvo was inspired at a young age to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. After receiving his DVM, he worked briefly at an Ottawa practice before moving to Windsor where he split his time between three clinics including ...

Meet Dr. Artna



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Dr. Thierry Asselin

Dr. Asselin's veterinary career has taken him to the other side of the continent and back again. He has worked as a veterinary assistant in the Quebec Zoo, and after he graduated in 99, he started to work in the USA in an emergency hospital in Virginia,...

Meet Dr. Asselin



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Dr. Danalyn Begin

Dr. Begin joined Alta Vista Animal Hospital in 1998 as an emergency/ICU associate. She previously worked in the Boston area as a small animal veterinarian at the Harvard Veterinary Medical Center and concurrently served as track veterinarian at the...

Meet Dr. Begin



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Dr. Lina Bravo

Dr. Bravo joined Alta Vista Animal Hospital in 2002 and expanded the veterinary referral services to include veterinary oncology, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in pets. Providing quality of life for sick dogs and cats for as long as possible, is what she...

Meet Dr. Bravo



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Dr. Charles Bruce

Dr. Bruce is a transplant to the Ottawa area originally growing up in Toronto. His love of animals and working with his hands drew him to a career in veterinary medicine. When not at the hospital Charles enjoys spending time with his family including long...

Meet Dr. Bruce



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Dr. Tara Chapman

Dr. Tara Chapman, a native of St. John's, Newfoundland, came to Ottawa after completing her small animal internal medicine residency program at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. She has been working in the...

Meet Dr. Chapman



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Dr. Dana Clark

Dr. Clark has been practicing in the Ottawa area since graduating from Ontario Veterinary College, and has practiced at Alta Vista Animal Hospital for six years. Dr. Clark is a family veterinarian who occasionally covers weekend emergency shifts. Her...

Meet Dr. Clark



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Dr. Eric de Madron

Dr de Madron has been a cardiology specialist for 21 years. He joined Alta Vista Animal Hospital in 1999. He has a cat named, Pitchounette. He is married to Pascale, and has 2 kids: Fanny and Sebastien. His hobbies include all kind of outdoors activities ...

Meet Dr. de Madron



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Dr. Tyler Dearden

Dr. Tyler Dearden started his veterinary career as a high school co-op student in 1992 in his hometown of Courtice, Ontario. After a few years of formal education Tyler joined the team at Alta Vista Animal Hospital as an emergency veterinarian in 2003....

Meet Dr. Dearden



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Dr. Yvan Dumais

Dr. Dumais has been with Alta Vista's dental practice since 2002. He also practices in clinics in Montreal and Quebec City. He has three times chaired the Credentials Committee of the American Veterinary Dental College, and is proud to have....

Meet Dr. Dumais



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Dr. Chris Elder

Dr. Elder joined the Emergency and Critical Care Department of the Alta Vista Animal Hospital in 2006. Growing up on his family farm in rural Dundee, Quebec, surrounded by a wide variety of livestock and pets, allowed Dr. Elder to develop a great...

Meet Dr. Elder



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Dr. Krista Gower

Dr. Gower always knew she wanted to work with animals but she did not like school when she was growing up. In high school she found out how many more years of school it would take to become a veterinarian and thought no way! While working at the ...

Meet Dr. Gower



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Dr. Lynn Griffin

Dr Lynn Griffin graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1997. Following this she began her career as a mixed animal practitioner in Northern Ontario, doing everything from puppy vaccines and cat spays to farm calls in the middle of the night to...

Meet Dr. Griffin



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Dr. Madelaine Hill

Dr. Hill joined the Alta Vista Animal Hospital Emergency and Critical Care team in 2007. Dr. Hill attended the University of British Columbia for undergraduate studies in agricultural science, and received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the Ontario...

Meet Dr. Hill



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Dr. Lara Jamieson

Lara wanted to be a veterinarian since she was a child. When she was growing up, Lara spent a lot of time at her grandparents' farm in rural Prince Edward Island. They demonstrated a great respect for all of the animals on the farm- dogs, cats, horses,...

Meet Dr. Jamieson



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Dr. Isak Kasuto

Isak shares his life away from the clinic with his wife, a feline 'pal' and a rambunctious young puppy as well. "Steve-O", their cat, and "Hyde", the energetic pug mix, are a real handful, keeping them on their toes and trying to get away with things he knows he...

Meet Dr. Kasuto



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Dr. Julius Liptak

Dr. Julius Liptak joined the specialty surgery department at Alta Vista Animal Hospital in May 2006. Outside of work, Julius enjoys spending time with his wife, Liz, and two cats, Imi and Mojo. Julius is an avid cyclist and photographer. He also enjoys...

Meet Dr. Liptak



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Dr. Marjorie McIsaac

Dr. McIsaac's career in veterinary medicine began with a penchant for medicine and a family history of dedicated veterinarians - she comes from a family of 6 children, and her father, oldest brother and brother-in-law are all Veterinarians! Although she has...

Meet Dr. McIsaac



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Dr. Nick Parker

Dr. Parker has been with the Alta Vista Animal Hospital family since 1987. He was the first specialist to join the practice and has seen it grow from 10 vets and staff to the 28 specialty, emergency and general practice vets and multiple staff that it has today. ...

Meet Dr. Parker



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Dr. Allison Peckham

Allison joined the Alta Vista team in the July 2008 and shares her time between the general practice and the emergency team, where she is honoured to be entrusted the care of clients' furry family members. Dr. Peckham enjoys all aspects of veterinary ...

Meet Dr. Peckham



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Dr. Bernhard Pukay

Dr. Pukay began his life's journey as a grade five elementary school teacher before being accepted into the Ontario Veterinary College. As a student, he spent time in the backcountry of Antigonish County in Nova Scotia where, in his own words, "my ...

Meet Dr. Pukay



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Dr. Dan Rodgers

Dr. Rodgers grew up in Barrie, Ontario with 3 brothers and a sister. The family always had pets but when he expressed an interest in veterinary medicine his parents bought him his own yellow lab who accompanied him around the streets of Barrie in ...

Meet Dr. Rodgers



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Dr. Graham Thatcher

Dr Thatcher was thrilled to move to Ottawa in order to work at Alta Vista and Bayview animal hospitals upon graduation from vet school in 2005. He moved with his cats and has since acquired a dog, Mickey Fry, to join the pet pack. Graham was a....

Meet Dr. Thatcher



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Dr. David Tinsley

Outside of veterinary medicine, Dr. Tinsley enjoys spending time with his kids, as well as photography, camping and canoeing. He also enjoys many sports, most notably triathlon's....

Meet Dr. Tinsley



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Dr. Erica Tyre

Dr. Erica Tyre graduated from the Atlantic Veterinary College in 2005 and was elated to be offered a position as an associate veterinarian at such a well-known and progressive hospital as Alta Vista. She hails from Fredericton, New Brunswick and is ...

Meet Dr. Tyre



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Dr. Karen van Haaften

Ontario Veterinary College, Class of 2009 Associate Emergency and General Practice Veterinarian...

Meet Dr. van Haaften



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