Our Staff

Dr. Byam is a UC Davis graduate. She was awarded the first annual “humane-itarian” award from the Sacramento SPCA, and is also actively involved with many rescue groups. She is a former President of the Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association (SVVMA), serves as President of its charitable foundation and she served on the Small Animal External Advisory Board for UC Davis’ Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, and has served on its admissions committee, where she helped choose the nation’s future veterinarians. Additionally, she serves the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) on the Accreditation Committee for Veterinary Technician schools, and is a former delegate to the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) and a current member of their Legislative Committee. She is a Rotarian and practices Rotary’s motto, which is “Service Above Self.” She recently completed a Don Low Fellowship at UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, where she had advanced training in small animal abdominal ultrasound. She enjoys spending time with her family, RVing, traveling and reading. She has a Pug, a Dachshund, a Poodle mix, a cat and a rescued desert Tortoise. Her advocacy on behalf of homeless animals in Elk Grove led her to make several appearances before the city council and on local news media, including the Bee and Capitol Public Radio, where she urged grassroots support for building our own animal shelter in Elk Grove. After nearly 2 years of community activism, the efforts were successful, and the City Council voted to approve building our own Animal Shelter here in Elk Grove. The site is expected to open in 2019.

Dr. Ekman is a Midwesterner, born and raised in northeastern Minnesota. She graduated at the University of Minnesota – Duluth in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She then attended Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue her veterinary degree. She concurrently completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University and Master of Public Health degree from the University of Iowa in 2020. Upon graduation, she moved to Elk Grove, California with her fiancé and their sweet orange tabby cat, Nelly. They recently adopted an Australian Cattle Dog mix puppy, Josie.

Jennifer graduated from Western Career College (now Carrington College) in 1993 as an Animal Health
Technician (AHT). After bouncing around to a few different veterinary hospitals over the years, she
found her forever home with Abel in 2016 and was promoted to Hospital Manager in 2020. Jennifer, her
husband Jon and son Robert, live here in Elk Grove with their dog (Aulani) cats (P.D., Luke, Leia, Wicket
and Kylo) and their gecko family (Stitch, Toothless and Lil’ Lilo). When not at work, you can usually find Jennifer at one of the local soccer fields, cheering on Robert while he plays soccer for Elk Grove FC and planning her next family get away to Disneyland.

Cynthia, our wonderful receptionist who also has technician skills. She always answers the phone with a smile and loves to help people with their pets.

She is an inspiration to the team with her over 20 years of experience in veterinary medicine. She can do it all , from reception to technician skills and she also has a ready laugh, and lets our clients know how much she cares about them. Because no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care!

Shelly graduated from tech school in 2012 with an AS degree and shortly after had gotten her RVT license. She had the privilege to spend almost 8 years at a feline-only practice learning that special, kitty whispering magic that takes the right kind of people to truly master with many low stress handling techniques. Shelly takes pride in being Fear Free Certified so that she may help lower stress for owners and their pets. She has had the honor to find her new home and family at Abel Pet Clinic in Sept 2020. She has had quite the zoo at home sharing it with my wife Shonna and 3 spoiled rotten pittie mixes (Ehko, Sugar & Buddy), 5 wonderful cats (Baby Girl, Bug, Klied, Skye, & Gizmo) and her childhood 20+ year old ball python, Nos.

Shelly enjoys reading, horror movies, TV, music and being around trees and water. She strives to take care of animals and be the voice they do not have. She loves building lasting bonds with clients and their fur (or scale/feather/etc.) babies. She is so happy and grateful to be a part of Abel and look forward to caring for your pets as if they were her own.

Charlie, a graduate of a registered veterinary technician program who first came to us for a clinical rotation. We liked them so much; we offered them a job. They will be taking their RVT exam soon, and we wish them the best of luck!

Two fun facts about Charlie; they have a background in the performing arts and has also become quite the coloring artist. One by one, they have given almost all of our employees technicolor hair! The second fun fact is that they are three inches shorter than Danny Devito! At 4 feet nine inches; they’re not short; they’re fun size!

Tanner, a second year veterinary student at UC Davis. Tanner is a determined young man. He first came to our practice when he was a student at Chico State. He walked into our reception area several years ago, with a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase; asking us to volunteer with us. How could we say no?

After his summer of volunteering, he asked if we could give him a paying job. He was the hardest working volunteer we’ve ever seen, so how could we say no? Then, after working for us for a year, he applied to the world’s greatest veterinary school, UC Davis, and how could they say no? So off he went, but he continued to work for us on weekends.  In his second year; his studies made it too hard for him to work Saturdays.

Then the Pandemic hit, and many of Tanner’s classes went remote. He is taking this year to finish his Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM.)  He remained a client here. bringing his three-legged cat, Peggy in for regular check-ups.  The last time he was in, we asked if he wouldn’t mind filling in at Abel during any time off this year, and how could he say no? Welcome back, Tanner!

Dr. Dimock received her DVM degree in 2006 from the University of California, Davis, completed a one year internship and one year of general practice in Bend, Oregon, joined the faculty as a Resident from 2008-2012, and became a Diplomate of the ACVR in 2012. After completion of the board certification exam and residency, Dr. Dimock remained at UC Davis as a part-time staff radiologist, primarily tasked with clinical duties and training of residents and senior students. Dr Dimock also helped advance Dr Byam’s skills in radiology and ultrasound when Dr. Byam was awarded a Don Low Fellowship at UC Davis in 2012-2013. Dr. Dimock’s areas of special interest include advanced imaging (CT and MRI), abdominal ultrasound and equine imaging. Her interests outside of veterinary medicine include hiking with her dog, horseback riding, caring for her small goat herd and traveling. She has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2013.

Dr. Bethany Jackson is a board certified veterinary cardiologist. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a rotating internship at The Animal Medical Center in New York City, followed by a cardiology internship and residency at MedVet Medical and Cancer Centers for Pets in Worthington, OH. She is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the sub-specialty of Cardiology. Dr. Jackson’s interest in cardiology stemmed from experience with her own dog being under the care of a veterinary cardiologist. She saw first hand how access to specialty consultation can help to further patient care. Her goal is to provide timely, accurate, and detailed cardiology consultations to allow accurate diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease in pets so they can live long, fulfilling lives. She has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2015.

Dr. MacKie received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Washington State University in 2005. Following graduation, he completed a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at VCA Sacramento Animal Medical Group in Sacramento, California. After his internship, he moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to complete his residency training in Cardiology from 2006-2009. During his time there, Dr. MacKie helped implement the use of the Amplatz Canine Ductal Occluder for non-invasive treatment of a congenital heart disease, authored a paper on the use of an implantable ECG monitor for the evaluation of fainting in dogs, and assisted in prospective research on pulmonary hypertension and cardiac biomarkers. His clinical interests include, but are not limited to clinical cardiology such as echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG), pulmonary hypertension in dogs, syncope (fainting) associated with heart disease and arrhythmias, congenital heart disease, arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure (CHF). His goal in therapy for your pets is to maintain an exceptional quality of life for his patients with heart disease. He began working with Abel Pet Clinic in 2013.

Dr. Lindl Bylicki is originally from Livermore, CA where her family currently resides. She received a BS from UC Santa Barbara and graduated with high honors in Biopsychology in 2005. She returned to Northern California to attend The School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis and graduated in 2010. After that, it was back to Southern California for a rotating small animal internship at the Veterinary Medical and Surgical Group in Ventura, CA. After a year at VMSG, she returned to UC Davis for a four-year residency in diagnostic imaging. Britany became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Radiologist in 2014. She is an author of several publications in the areas of carotid body tumors, the canine dorsal tracheal membrane, and chondro-osseous respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartomas. She serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. She currently lives in Sacramento with her husband. They enjoy hiking and backpacking, snowboarding, and finding new beer to try. Britany is an active member of the River City Rowing Club’s Open Women’s team. She has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2015.

Dr. Long received his DVM degree in 1994 at UC Davis. Following a one-year associate veterinarian position in general practice, Dr. Long returned to UC Davis to complete a four-year residency in radiology from 1995-1999, and became board certified by the AVDC in 1998. He joined the faculty at UC Davis as half time Clinical Professor position from 1999 through 2005 and is still involved with the UC Davis with radiology resident training. His radiology rounds training format is highly regarded by faculty and residents. Dr. Long’s areas of special interest include diagnostic ultrasound and interventional radiology. His personal favorite activities include flying, kayaking, home improvement, and outdoor adventures with the family. He has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2003.

Dr. Herrgesell is a second-generation veterinarian who completed his doctor of veterinary medicine and radiology training at the University of California, Davis. He completed his training in Veterinary Radiology in 1997 with the completion of the board certification exam and began as a member of the staff as a lecturer and clinical radiologist for 8 years at the University of California Davis in the teaching hospital. While at the university Dr. Herrgesell was involved in the development of ultrasound as an elective course for the second and third year students in addition to clinical duty. Since 2005 he has been in private practice in the greater Sacramento area providing radiology and ultrasound support for the area veterinarians. He is well known on the national continuing education circuit for radiology and ultrasound training, and in 2005, he was awarded the Norden Distinguished Teaching Award at UC Davis. The Norden Teaching award is the most prestigious teaching award in Veterinary Medicine. His favorite pastimes are hiking and fly fishing. He has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2006.

After graduation from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Mellema completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Following a year in small animal private practice, she completed four-year residency in radiology at UC Davis and became board certified in veterinary radiology in 2000. She spent seven years as a staff radiologist at Angell AMC in Boston. She currently lives in Davis with her husband and two sons. She has been working with Abel Pet Clinic since 2016

Dr. Laurenson obtained her bachelor’s degree from UC Davis in Biological Systems Engineering. She attended UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and after graduation completed a rotating internship at VMSG in Ventura, California. After a year of general practice, she completed a four-year radiology residency at UC Davis, and became board certified in 2010. She returned to VMSG and spent four years as a staff radiologist, after which she relocated to the Sacramento valley as a traveling radiologist. She enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter. She began working with Abel Pet Clinic in 2016.