Meet Our Team

Dr. Honse grew up in rural North Mississippi and attended veterinary school at Mississippi State University.

She has been with River Valley for more than 8 years, and truly enjoys her job, her patients & her clients. She has a special interest in soft tissue surgery and senior pets.

Dr. Honse lives on a hobby farm with her son, Ryan, 3 cats, 2 mules, 1 horse and 1 angry bird. She enjoys trail riding her mules, gardening, going to the beach and spending time with her family.

Marla grew up in Wexford, where her love affair with animals began as a member of the 4-H organization. Her early experiences riding horses and working in the stables left a permanent impression—she’s always known that a career spent caring for pets would be the perfect fit! Marla attended the Vet Tech Institute to earn her degree in veterinary technology, graduating as a Certified Veterinary Technician. She joined the team here at River Valley Veterinary Hospital in September of 2017, and has been tending to the area’s pets and animal parents ever since. Her favorite part of her work is getting to witness the journey from diagnosis and treatment to a healthy, happy pet! Marla lives in Allison Park with her three cats: Noodle, Gandalf, and Thorin. In her free time, she loves to ride dirt bikes, and even competed in her first race in 2017. Marla is also an avid crafter, and her specialty involves refurbishing pallets into works of art for others.

Bio coming soon 🙂

Pets have made Sakari’s life better for as long as she can remember. For her, working hands-on with animals in the veterinary world is the perfect way to return the favor! Sakari helps pets as a Veterinary Technician with the River Valley Veterinary Hospital team. Sakari completed her externship at a local animal clinic, and graduated from the Vet Tech Institute of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July of 2017. The next month, she was thrilled to accept a position here at River Valley Veterinary Hospital! Sakari brings with her special interests in laboratory procedures and radiology work. Her favorite part of every shift is getting to meet loveable patients and their proud owners.
Outside of work, Sakari can be found enjoying a good book, camping and fishing in the great outdoors, relaxing around a bonfire, or spending time with her family and pets. She lives with two dogs, three cats, and a pair of ferrets.

Growing up, Alexis’ mother always told her that she was meant to work with animals She could not see her taking any other career path Alexis started out at community college soon realizing she had more to offer in ltfe, she applied and was accepted into Vet Tech Institute of Pittsburgh and through hard work and compassion she graduated in February 2019.

Alexis, AKA, Alex as you may know her has been with River Valley, for 5 years now. She enjoys hearing clients tell her how special their pets are to them while assuring them they are just as special to us. She also enjoys knowing that she is assisting in the well-being of your pet.

Alexis grew up in Sarver and now lives in the Freeport area. She welcomed a son in March of 2023 and to complete the family are her two dogs, Jasper and Willow.

In her free time, Alexis enjoys playing volleyball, hiking, horseback riding and spending time with her family.

As a child living in the country, Dawn always had a love of the surrounding wildlife and occasional stray animal that was dumped by people in the local towns. As a result, She was always interacting with wildlife and her family never went without a dog. Animals became a huge part of Dawn’s life and over the years developed the necessary skills to approach and handle them.

Dawn sought out employment at River Valley after moving to Pennsylvania. Dawn’s greatest accomplishment has been interacting with the clientele as a receptionist. Her previous background as a technician helped her focus on the animals themselves.

In her free time, Dawn enjoys hiking, camping and being outdoors with her family and dog Mikko. She also likes editing photography.

Jody grew up in New Kensington and graduated Valley High School in 2011. She has always had a passion for animals, of all species. In 2012, she began working at her local animal shelter. From that point on she has been working with animals. “I’ve seen and learned a lot from working at the animal shelter. Experiencing what I did helped me realize that this is what I was meant to do at this time in my life.”

Jody started her family in 2018 and then joined our team in 2020, She said, “It feels so good to be back where I belong!”

In her free time Jody loves spending time with her family. Everyday is a new adventure with two boys! She also enjoys cooking, being outdoors, fishing, and gardening most recently!

Sydney has always been fascinated with animals and knew as a child she was destined to work in
veterinary medicine.

She joined our team in June 2022 and loves the amazing friendships that she has formed here. She always has a fun time at work caring for the patients and learning new things.

Sydney likes to paint and hike in her free time. She enjoys good music and is into dog training.

She shares her home with two dogs, a cat and 2 pet rats.

Brooke has always known she wanted to work with animals. She loves creating relationships with the ones she cares for. it feels super rewarding. She was the youngest of 3, her and her siblings were always around animals raising and caring for them.

Brooke has been in veterinary medicine, as a technician, for IO years before joining River Valley in May of 2021. She loves the family feel we have here. Her favorite thing is everyone’s combine skillset, utilized daily, to make the best of every patients visit here.

In her free time, Brooke likes spending time outside hiking and camping. She likes to plant and collect plants and she is a fantastic singer.

At home she shares her household with her best friends, the cat and her many, many ducks.

Lauren has always adored the company of animals, and she knew that she’d like to use her passion in a meaninful way to impact others. Here at River Valley Veterinary Hospital, she is able to better the lives of pets and their owners daily as the Office Manager!

Lauren joined the River Valley Veterinary family in the fall of 2007; she learned upon interview that she would be cross-trained as a Technician! Now, Lauren is able to use her skill set every day to make all patients as comfortable as possible. She makes it her personal mission to ensure that every visitor to the clinic – furry and otherwise – feels welcome.

Outside of work, Lauren enjoys spending time with her family, especially traveling to Ocean City with her husband, and daughters. She volunteers at her children’s school and is a proud cheerleader coach for Ar-Ken Youth Football and Cheer. At hoem the family is completed by a pair of pups named Nico and Bootie and a pair of bunnies named Oreo and Nutter Butter.

Linda has wanted to put her time and effort toward the betterment of animals for as long as she can remember—she prides herself on her listening skills, and loves being able to problem-solve and find solutions for the area’s pet owners! Linda serves as the General Manager of River Valley Veterinary Services. Linda first joined the hospital team in 2006, when she signed on as a Veterinary Technician, and was promoted to the General Manager position in the summer of 2014. When she’s not assisting a veterinarian, you can find Linda managing her talented staff, ordering supplies, and making sure the clinic is functioning smoothly in order to best serve the area’s animal parents. In her time away from work, Linda enjoys landscaping, gardening, vacationing, and spending time with her own pets. She lives with two dogs, Phantom and Oliver, as well as a pair of cats named Mr. Kitters and Biff.

Becky decided to rejoin the workforce when her daughter started her senior year of high school. She joined the River Valley Veterinary Hospital family in 2013 as their receptionist and could not be happier with her decision. Her favorite part of the job is listening to clients’ wonderful pet stories! Becky resides on a small farm with her family and they share their lives with two dogs, three cats, a large host of farm animals.
When she isn’t tending to clients’ needs here at the clinic, Becky enjoys spending time with her family, talking with friends on the phone, watching her favorite TV shows, and traveling.

What better way to satisfy her love of animals, than to work at a veterinary hospital? Bretta joined our team at River Valley Veterinary Hospital in August of 2007. Bretta serves as one of River Valley Veterinary Hospital’s veteran Customer Care Specialists.

Bretta strives to make sure all our patient’s needs have been met. She particularly likes  gretting the clinic’s four legged visitors in the lobby with a treat.

In her time away from work, Bretta likes to camp and spend time in the great outdoors. She mostly enjoys chilling with family and friends around a good fire.

Bretta has three children and is G-Ma to two little cuties. Her home is made up of a trio of trouble-making Labradors.