Staff
Dr. Kathleen Hanson
Veterinarian/
Dr. Hanson grew up in Hawaii, where she attended Punahou School (the same school as President Obama). After graduation, she obtained a BS in Biology from Cornell University and then a DVM from the University of California, Davis. She went on to complete a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in New Jersey.
Since then, she has worked at a number of clinics, including: New Haven Central Hospital (New Haven, CT); VESCONE (Waltham, MA); Woburn Animal Hospital (Woburn, MA); and Dr. Wolf's Animal Medical Center (Dedham, MA). She was also an adjunct clinical instructor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine from 2003-2009, teaching a section of their problem based learning (PBL) class. She lives locally in North Woburn with her husband, daughter, dog, and four cats, and is very excited to be working close to home. In her free time, she competes with her border collie in dog agility. Dr. Hanson is particularly interested in managing internal medicine cases.
Colleen S.
Head Technician
Certified Veterinary Technician
Colleen graduated from Wilmington High School as a valedictorian, and earned her bachelor's degree in biology at Tufts University. She has always had a passion and love for animals, which sparked her career in veterinary medicine. She currently has one dog (Xander), four cats (Twist, Andy Moog aka Moogie, Olaf, and Ghillie), two bunnies (Apple and Peach), and three parakeets (Joy, Faith, and Love). She has worked in the field for over twelve years, and has worked at both the Woburn Animal Hospital and the Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center of New England. Colleen focuses on establishing a comfortable and calm environment for both the clients and the pets. Her professional interests include small animal dentistry and internal medicine.
Carolyn Z.
Office Manager
Carolyn grew up in Lexington and earned her BA from Regis College in Weston. After graduation, she obtained her paralegal certification, and worked for nearly two decades for various law firms around Boston. She made a career change, and is excited to be working with animals full-time. In her spare time, Carolyn volunteers for local greyhound placement organizations. She and her husband John have adopted several former racing greyhounds; they currently have two named Rollie and Sheena. She has a passion for finding homes for retired racers and hound crosses.
Kristi F.
Practice Manager
Kristi grew up in Saugus and currently lives in North Andover with her cat Jackson. She began working with animals by doing volunteer work for MSPCA Nevins Farm and working at a dog daycare. She holds an Animal Care Degree, and has an extensive background in emergency medicine, working at both Mass Vet and BluePearl. She also has experience in general veterinary practice.
In her spare time, Kristi enjoys a wide variety of arts and crafts. She especially enjoys painting and embroidery.
Carri P.
Technician
Carri attended Essex Community College where she obtained her associate in Veterinary Technology. She worked as a technician at Danvers Animal Hospital for thirty years, and at Our Family Veterinary Services in Peabody for a number of years before joining the team at Burlington Animal Clinic.
Carri lives in Beverly with several animals. Among them are two chinese hairless dogs, a Peruvian Inca orchid hairless, a chihuahua, snakes, jumping spiders, and two parakeets. She also fosters dogs and an axototl too.
Finding homes for foster dogs is a true passion for Carri. She volunteered for the organization Villa Lobos Animal Rescue — known from the TV show Pitbulls For Parolees — for a number of years. She has placed many older dogs that were difficult to adopt out, focusing on pitbulls and chihuahuas. She has also taken in many of these dogs herself.
When not working, Carri enjoys artwork and photography. She also spends time as a wildlife rehabilitator and enjoys exotic animals. Carri especially loves jeeps and is in a jeep club called Wicked Jeeps of New England.
Dianne S.
Technician
Dianne grew up in Woburn and has always had a love for animals from an early age. She has been in the veterinary field for over 30 years. Her previous experiences include working in small animal practices and at Angell Memorial in the ICU. She enjoys emergency medicine, client education, and working with exotics.
Diane lives in Wilmington with her husband, and in her spare time, you will find her working on latch hook rugs. Her specialty is creating these rugs from pictures of pets, and each rug is truly unique.
Lorig J.
Veterinary Assistant
Lorig was born in Lebanon and moved to this country with her family when she was ten years old. She lives in Burlington and attended Burlington High School. She then went on to study at U Mass Amherst. At U Mass, she obtained an Animal Science degree and a degree in pre-veterinary studies. She hopes to attend veterinary school one day, focusing on small animal practice or conservation.
Lorig loves birds and had two canaries growing up.
In her spare time, Lorig enjoys reading, and is partial to murder mysteries and fantasy novels. She also loves to watch Japanese anime.
Marissa H.
Veterinary Assistant
Marissa is from Billerica and lives with her two dogs AJ, a three year old boxer, and Miley, a nine year old chihuahua mix. She attended Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, where she studied cosmetology. After obtaining her license, she worked as a hairdresser.
Marissa has always wanted to work with animals and hopes to continue coursework towards becoming a certified veterinary technician. She worked at Countryside Veterinary Hospital in Chelmsford as a kennel attendant, where she was able to use her knowledge of dog behavior. There she not only cared for the boarding dogs, but helped assist the veterinarians in other areas such as with physical therapy appointments. Marissa's special interests include physical therapy and pet nutrition.
When she is not working Marissa enjoys spending time at her family's house on Lake Winnipesaukee. She considers the lake to be her special place. She also enjoys hiking with her dog AJ.
Sophia W.
Veterinary Assistant
Sophia relocated a lot when younger but found her home in the Somerville/Medford area. She shares her home with two snakes named Matilda and Zelda, two dogs named Akeva and Bullet, and four cats.
After attending Somerville High School she went to Unity College in Maine. She has an interest wildlife rehabilitation, and studied wildlife care and education in college.
Sophia likes to go camping in Maine where she enjoys hiking and kayaking. She us currently working with her older dog Akeva to become more comfortable on a kayak, so he can go with her on more camping adventures.
Victoria L.
Receptionist
Victoria grew up in New Hampshire and moved to Massachusetts when she was in middle school. She lives with her boyfriend of ten years. While pets are not allowed where she currently lives, she spends some of her time pet sitting.
Victoria studied for three semesters at U Mass Dartmouth, then worked at a daycare for 13 years. After spending time caring for the pets of her family and friends, she has realized that she would like to care for animals as a career. She has a special interest in animal behavior and dog training.
In her spare time, you will find Victoria curled up with a good suspenseful novel. She also spends much of her spare time with her three year old niece, who will Facetime her to arrange their many outings.
Amy B.
Receptionist
Amy was raised in Woburn and attended Woburn High. Currently she is raising her 13-year-old daughter in the same neighborhood she grew up in. After high school, Amy had a focus on taking online courses in Drug and Alcohol Counseling and Child Psychology. She had seen people close to her throughout her life struggle with these issues, including friends, classmates, and relatives. She has also taken online courses in Veterinary Assistant and Animal Care.
Amy's first jobs were in childcare, working as a nanny. In 2010 she became the mama of a child with medical special needs. Every day is a surprise. Then after a long period of time being a stay-at-home mom, she decided to pursue her passion for animals by working in the veterinary and medical field. Growing up, her dream job was to be a vet.
She is interested in the similarities and differences between human and veterinary medicine. She has a special interest in dog training, after getting her 2-year-old working line German Shepherd "Sarge" who she describes as a "work in progress." You can find Amy on Sunday mornings working with her trainer and other dogs in her class, helping her overcome past dog anxiety. She knows quite a bit about dog training, focusing on those anxious ones that need a little extra time and support than others — problem-solving, finding ways to make it fun, and positive reinforcement.
Amy is excited to jump into this role as it gives her the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of family pets and be able to meet friendly and furry faces at Burlington Animal Clinic. On her days off ,you can find her listening to music, laughing and joking around, at the beach no matter what the weather is, spending time with family, and vacationing in Maine. She may also be working on arts and crafts projects with her daughter Jordynn or catching up on the latest Netflix shows.