Our Staff

Assistant

Rachael Schenkel has lived in the capital region her whole life. She graduated from Guilderland High School in 2012. Rachael graduated from HVCC in 2015 with her Associate’s degree in individual studies, and then went on to achieve her Associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology in 2019 from Ulster County Community College. She joined Clifton Park Veterinary Clinic in January 2020. Rachael currently lives in Rotterdam with her cat, Striker. In her free time, Rachael bowls in a league weekly throughout the year. Rachael also works part-time at the local bowling alley in Delmar.

LVT

Tina currently lives in Clifton Park with her family – her husband (Kieran), 2 boys (Marcus and Zeke), 3 cats (Miles, Tut, and Amber), and 2 dogs (Sage and Ralph). Tina and her husband are retired foster parents with Schenectady County DSS. In her spare time, she is active in her sons’ many after-school activities. She enjoys fishing. She is an avid soccer fan and just earned her Grassroots 11v11 coaching license.

Tina is also an advocate for one of her favorite misunderstood dog breeds, the Cane Corso. She has a soft spot for the breed and the special needs cases. She has taken in several special needs cases, and she loves helping these special dogs.

Assistant/Tech Student

Erin grew up in Ballston Spa, NY, and went to Sage College of Albany for Graphic Design before switching careers to Veterinary Medicine in 2017. Erin has worked as an assistant since and is currently enrolled in Penn Foster to get her tech license. Erin has a young daughter and 4 cats (two of which were bottle babies). She does not recommend ever having bottle babies. During her time off, she enjoys reading, playing video games, and playing Paw Patrol with her daughter, Addie Rose.

Assistant/Kennel Help

Erin grew up in the Capital Region and is presently attending UMass Amherst for a BS in Animal Science. She is hopeful to continue on to vet school after completing her undergraduate degree. While at school, she remains a lover of the outdoors, being an avid cyclist and skier when not rowing for the UMass Women’s crew team. It’s not uncommon to find Erin home on the weekends, visiting with her dog Dax and two cats, Lincoln and Izzy. Over breaks, Erin loves to come back to the clinic and gain more experience in vet med from the wonderful doctors and techs!

Office Manager

Kathy graduated from Burnt Hills High School and Siena College. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Siena, where she majored in Political Science and minored in History. Kathy began working for Dr. Bogaard when the practice was Country Knolls Animal Hospital in 2001. Fortunately for us, she decided to stay on board when Dr. Cooper bought the clinic and Dr. Bogaard retired! Kathy lives in the Capital District with her two cats, Felix and Ramona. When she is not at work, Kathy enjoys reading, doing crafts, watching Disney movies, and building LEGO.

Receptionist

Meredith grew up mostly in the Northeast spending her youth camping and hiking with her family dogs. She first started working at 16 at a veterinary hospital in Florida and continued in veterinary medicine after moving to New York. Throughout the years, Meredith has worked as an assistant, management and worked with rescue groups. She has also assisted on animal cruelty cases and has done wildlife rehab.

After travelling all over the east backpacking, camping and biking, she moved out west to live in Arizona. She has spent a lot of her downtime doing art, mountain biking, and hiking and camping. During her time out west, Meredith lived in a van for two months travelling to the National Parks and Forests. Her favorites are the backcountry parts of Glacier and the Tetons.

When she wasn’t travelling, she was busy working as a technician at a very busy veterinary practice that served as both a general practice and ER. Soon after returning to NY, Meredith began working at Clifton Park Vet as the receptionist, being a patient and client advocate, and sharing her knowledge with clients. Currently, she lives on a small homestead with two goats, two dogs, chickens, the occasional opossum, and vegetable and flower gardens.