Our Team

Dr. Jennifer Evans joined Animal Care Clinic in July 1997. She is a Santa Barbara native and Cal Poly SLO graduate. Dr. Evans earned her DVM from UC Davis in 1997. Her special interests include small mammal medicine and behavioral medicine. She most enjoys getting to establish life-long relationships with all of her patients and their families. When Jennifer was 3 years old she told her mom she wanted to be a doctor for dogs. “I don’t really remember ever wanting to do anything else. I love working with pets and their people.” Jennifer brings a special compassion and empathy to our practice.

Jennifer enjoys all outdoor activities including camping and horseback riding, along with church and family activities. She has two dogs, Ventana who is a career changed Guide Dog Labrador Retriever and Lexi, a Rhodesian Ridgeback; she enjoys both as her hiking buddies. They all live with 2 cats, Pippin and Tryg that she raised from 3 weeks of age. Jennifer also raised a Lab for Guide Dogs of America and plans to do it again.

Dr. Bonnie Markoff is the owner and founder of Animal Care Clinic. She is almost a San Luis Obispo native attending elementary and high school in SLO. Dr. Markoff graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Animal Science and then went to UC Davis for veterinary school, earning her DVM in 1988. She is a Board Certified specialist in Canine and Feline Practice, a Diplomat of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners and is certified in Veterinary Family Practice & Fear Free Practice. In 2001 she had the special honor of being named a Fellow at UC Davis in small animal abdominal ultrasonography. Dr. Markoff’ s special medical interests include internal medicine, oncology, pain control, diagnostic imaging and figuring out the tricky cases. When asked about why she became a veterinarian she said, “I can’t remember a time when I did not want to be a veterinarian. I was born into a household full of animals – everything from dogs to lizards! I had pet rats, rabbits, tortoises, snakes and tarantulas as a kid, and I thought my dog was my sister! With my love of science and the outdoors, there seemed no other path to follow! I now find myself most intrigued with the human interactions involved in veterinary medicine – how people bond to their pets and manage the emotional difficulties in caring for sick pets, and how to lead and manage teams of people dedicated to caring for people and their pets. I have been so completely blessed by this diverse profession!”
Bonnie lives with her Australian Shepherd, Zeke; Catahoula cross, Teague; plus her 3-legged rescue kitty Vinny. She enjoys photography, landscaping, hiking, traveling, kayaking, & singing in the church choir. She sits on the advisory board for the Animal Science Department at Cal Poly. Bonnie also works often on short-term missions for Christian Veterinary Mission and other faith based groups to bring veterinary care and leadership skills to people in need throughout the world. She most frequently visits Mongolia and Zambia on these trips. She is also leading Animal Care Clinic in a partnership with the University of Baja California to bring both veterinary medical and leadership training to the students in Mexico.

Practice Administrator, Mercy joined the Animal Care Clinic Customer Service Team in November 2013. Originally from Moorpark, California, she lived in Tallahassee, Florida for 2 years before coming to SLO. Mercy studies anatomy, chemistry and small business management at Santa Barbara City College. She originally had an interest in becoming a veterinarian, but quickly realized she enjoyed communicating with clients, meeting pets, and working with doctors. “I have really found my niche in veterinary customer service.” Professional goals are to grow within the veterinary field and become more involved with administration/human resources and help others discover the joy of working with a company like Animal Care Clinic.
Mercy’s husband is a Transportation Planner with SLO Caltrans and they have 2 dogs together, Buster the Border Collie and Dexter the Boston Terrier. They also enjoy hiking together and cheering on Florida State University football. Mercy is also quite crafty, has taken cake decorating classes and loves to make cakes and cupcakes for all occasions!

Certified dog trainer, Stephanie Ruggerone, came to ACC in September 2000. She has an extensive background in many facets of animal care including behavior, training, grooming and pet assisted therapy. Following Studies in animal science and agriculture at the University of Arizona, she settled in San Luis Obispo County in 1980 after growing up in Whittier, CA. She has raised and trained Golden Retrievers under the Autumngale Obedience kennel name. After training two dogs for the county humane education program she became an animal control officer, then quickly promoted to the position of Animal Services Director. She served many years as Practice Administrator.

Gustavo currently works as a Registered Veterinary Technician at Animal Care Clinic, and has been here since May 2002. Gustavo grew up in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. He graduated with his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in Mexico from the Autonomous University of Baja California. Gustavo is studying now, so that he may eventually be boarded as a DVM in California. He loves living in San Luis Obispo County and is glad that his children have had the opportunity to grow up here. Gustavo has 3 children in college, whom he is always involved with in their activities and schools. Aside from being a busy, working family man, Gustavo is developing a website, http://accuabc.webs.com.

Cassie joined the Animal Care Clinic team in July 2013 as one of our Registered Veterinary Technicians. Originally from Clovis, California she came to San Luis Obispo to attend school at Cal Poly. She has graduated from Cal Poly SLO with a BS in Animal Science and a MS in Equine and Animal Nutrition Studies. She would next like to pursue a technical specialty in nutrition. Cassie says, “From a young age I knew I wanted to work in a veterinary hospital. As a teenager I would assist a neighbor, who was also a veterinarian, while she treated various livestock and pets and knew it was what I wanted to do as a career. I am a very compassionate person who found myself helping animals wherever I happened to be and am very fortunate to have been able to realize this dream of mine.”

Melissa originally joined the Animal Care Clinic Team in July 2006. She moved to San Luis Obispo from Southern California in 2004 to attend Cal Poly. She graduated with a B.S. in Animal Science then acquired her Registered Veterinary Technician license.

Her passions include riding her horses, running, and spending time with her family and dogs.

John joined the Veterinary Nursing team June 2013. He grew up an Air Force “brat,” so has moved around quite a lot early on. His recent plans have been to attend RN school, but is keeping his options open as his time spent with Animal Care Clinic could change things as he is finding veterinary medicine as a new challenge and very rewarding. He was drawn to this position by the joy of working with and caring for pet’s. John and his wife do not currently have any pets, though they have plans to add some furry family members in the future. John also has children that love to play with their Boston Terrier.
John loves to camp, hike, kayak, fish, bike and practice photography. Of course, living in SLO County he also enjoys wine tasting. Experimenting with cooking is another hobby that the rest of us at Animal Care Clinic are happily awaiting to benefit from! John also spends his time volunteering with his church working with homeless people and working with the local veterans service office.

Erika joined our team in October 2015 as a Customer Care Representative. She was born in Fresno, CA but spent most of her childhood and teenage years in Thousand Oaks, CA. After high school, she attended SBCC then transferred into Cal Poly where she graduated in 2014 with an Animal Science degree. Her goal now is to gather experience in the veterinary field and start working towards her Registered Veterinary Technician license. Erika has two sisters, her twin, Julia, who is a dance teacher in Orange County and a younger sister, Krista, who is studying opera at university in Scotland. Her parents still live in Thousand Oaks along with her four dogs, a bearded dragon and a horse. One of her passions is running. She ran for D1 Cal Poly Cross Country & Track Team, her events were the steeplechase and the 5k. Some of her other interests include riding horses, backpacking, fishing, camping and skiing, especially in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas. Coming from an artistic family, Erika also enjoys singing and has been taking drawing classes since high school as a way to relax and rest from her active lifestyle.

Caitlyn comes to us from San Diego and is a part of our lodge and nursing team. She has been with ACC since September of 2016 and has immediately become an important part of our team. She is currently attending Cal Poly studying animal sciences with the hopes of one day working in animal nutrition or research. “I’ve wanted to help animals for as long as I can remember. As a little girl I dreamed about growing up and being able to do that.
In her spare time, Caitlyn enjoys playing baseball and golf. She was the team manager for the Cal Poly baseball team and used to play golf competitively throughout high school. Now you can catch her at the SLO Blues Baseball games or playing a round of golf when she gets a chance. And you will never meet anyone more excited to play Mexican Train Dominoes.
Caitlyn has a twin brother, Jonathan, who is currently attending University of Arizona as a pre-med student.

Jasmin joined our veterinary nursing team in October 2017. Originally from the San Gabriel Valley, she has recently relocated to North County with her husband and two Miniature Pinschers. They are loving everything the central coast has to offer, especially the bicycling trails, fishing, and swimming.

Jasmin has a broadcasting degree from the Academy of Radio and Television Broadcasting. During her time in school she obtained her first job in a veterinary hospital through the school’s student program. She enjoyed it so much that after completing her degree work, she changed her focus to helping companion animals. She has now worked in many aspects of the veterinary field, including veterinary nursing, customer service, and administration. Her wide range of experience makes her a valuable asset to ACC. Jasmin continually strives to learn and grow and is currently enrolled in the Penn Foster RVT Program. “Obtaining certification is important to me as a culmination of all the skills I’ve attained and all that I hope to still learn.”

Natalie has been with Animal Care Clinic as a part of the Customer Service team since January of 2012. Originally from Fresno, Natalie is a California native, though she has also previously lived in New Hampshire and Washington states. She most enjoys spending time with her two children. Currently, a brown tabby names Simpkin rounds out the household. Natalie also is very interested in keeping up with the latest marine conservation issues.

From all the way across the pond, Kate joined our Customer Service Team in October 2017. She moved to San Luis Obispo after meeting her husband Sonny while on vacation in the Philippines. In England Kate received a degree in Equine Performance at Hartpury College in Gloucester. She has always loved horseback riding and was the National Dressage Champion in 2016 with her horse “Dollar”. She is also an advanced open water diver and explored the shipwrecks in the Philippines from the US attack on the Japanese Navy from WWII.

Kate is looking forward providing the best customer service for all of our clients and patients and maybe one day learning Veterinary Technician skills.

Karla joined the Animal Care Clinic Team in October 2017. She comes to us with experience in both human and animal medicine, previously working as surgical technician in dermatology and as a veterinary technician. Karla found that she loved working in the animal industry more and has since found her place on our Customer Service Team. “Client education is my passion. I enjoy teaching clients about their animal’s health.”

Karla participated in FFA at her high school in Sonoma County and was the recipient of the American Agriculture Degree. She went to Chico and studied Animal Science & Agribusiness. Karla hopes to continue her education in parasitology and pharmacology. “I love to study bugs and how they affect our pets and livestock.”

This girl loves to spend her free time on the ocean. Whether it is surfing, paddle boarding, or kayaking, Karla loves it all.