Meet Our Staff
Dr. Bob Brewster, DVM.Dr. Brewster considers himself a Georgia native despite the fact that he was born in New York City (which technically makes him the only Yankee in his family). Before moving to Athens, he earned an undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University in North Carolina. After volunteering at local veterinary clinics and riding around with a horse veterinarian, Dr. Brewster attended the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine and finished his DVM in 1988. Subsequently, he spent three years working as a veterinarian in Asheville, North Carolina. He and his wife then made the decision to move back to Athens. He worked at the Dekalb/Gwinnett Emergency Hospital for a year, then opened Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital in 1992. In 1997, Dr. Brewster purchased Gaines School Animal Hospital. He practiced at both hospitals for ten years. Although he is still involved in the Barber Creek practice, he now spends most of his time at Gaines School. He, his wife, and children have a llama, two goats and two boxers. While they would like to have cats at home, their dogs have vetoed the idea. As a result, he has several cats that make Gaines School Animal Hospital their home.
Dr. Sarah Grace Hajjar, DVM. Dr. Sarah Grace Hajjar joined Gaines School Animal Hospital in September, 2008. Dr. Hajjar earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Mississippi, then moved to Atlanta where she worked as a veterinary assistant while taking classes at Georgia State University in preparation for veterinary school at the University of Georgia. While in veterinary school at UGA, she was president for two years of the Canine Club and also cofounder of the Shelter Medicine club which raises awareness and provides information for veterinary students about shelter medicine. She has been fostering for Athens Canine Rescue since 2004, and was also foster coordinator from 2005 to 2007. Dr. Hajjar is married and has a daughter named Lily. Her pet family includes two shih-tzus (Ana and Jasper), a Yorkie named Simon, and two cats (Amos and Bella).
Amy, Receptionist. Amy has worked at Gaines School Animal Hospital since 2004. She has three dogs: Emily, a Spaniel mix; Jasmine, a Terrier mix; and Belle, a pit bull mix.
Kaila, Receptionist.Kaila started working at both Gaines School Animal Hospital and Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital in August 2009 after earning a B.S. in Animal Science from the University of Georgia. She previously worked for three years at the UGA Dairy Farm working with cows and also at the UGA Snyder Barn which specializes in horse reproduction. In the future, Kaila would like to be a large animal veterinarian. She has two cats named Miley and Kia plus a black lab named Javabean.
Joe, Veterinary Assistant.Joe has worked at Gaines School Animal Hospital since 1997. He has one dog, Jackie, a Border Collie mix, and two cats, Josh and Justin. When this photo was taken, he was as yet unaware of the loss of his pet shrimp (also named Joe), who lived in a biodome at the Gaines School Animal Hospital front desk. For more information on his loss, please see Ginnie's bio below.
Stephanie, Veterinary Assistant.Stephanie starting working at Gaines School Animal Hospital in January of 2008. She is a UGA graduate with a degree in Biological Sciences and Spanish. Stephanie is taking a year off from her studies to work full time, although she plans on applying to veterinary school in the future. She has a cat named Bagheera (after a character in the Jungle Book) who lives with her mom, and she also has a zebra finch named Forté.
Marybeth, Veterinary Assistant.Marybeth has worked at Gaines School Animal Hospital since 2004. She is currently a student at Athens Area Technical Institute studying early childhood education with the plan to eventually transfer to the University of Georgia. Her goal is to teach Kindergarten. Marybeth first starting working with animals as a kennel assistant at the age of sixteen. She has two dogs, Sugar, a mix, and Roxie, a Pekinese mix. She also has a cat named Tang.
Ginnie, Veterinary Assistant.Ginnie is also pictured on our home page holding a cat named Stoney that recently acquired the nickname of "shrimp killer" since he successfully toppled a biodome off the front desk, breaking it on the floor, resulting in the demise of the doomed shrimp residing inside the dome. Since the accident seemed inevitable considering the dominance of cats within Gaines School Animal Hospital, Ginnie is not placing blame. She has worked at Gaines School since April of 2007 and is currently a student at the University of Georgia majoring in Bioscience (pre-vet). She has one cat named Bob (no relation to Dr. Brewster), named such because of his resemblance to a bobcat.
Kristina, Veterinary Assistant. Kristina began her career at Gaines School Animal Hospital as a Grooming Assistant in June 2007. She started training to be a Veterinary Assistant in July of the same year. She has applied to Vet School in the hopes of furthering her career in veterinary medicine. She has three dogs: Lex, a white German Shepherd, Louis, a Blood Hound, and Packer, an Australian Cattledog mix. In addition she is fostering a Great Dane mix named Athena. She is married, and her husband has multiple reptilian pets including two bearded dragons, two leopard gekkos, an iguana, two snakes, and a turtle. They also have two pet rats which were originally meant to be snake dinner, however, Kristina chose to spare them and they are now part of their extended pet family (they have since switched to frozen rats which are harder to get emotionally attached to). In addition to working at Gaines School, Kristina also works at a dairy farm.
Liz, Veterinary Assistant.Liz previously worked at Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital from 1999-2006. After leaving Barber Creek, Liz worked for AmeriCorps in both Anchorage, Alaska and St. Croix, Virgin Islands helping foster children. She is currently a social work major at Gainesville College and lives in a house with three dogs and one cat.
Joe, Veterinary Technician.Joe has worked at Gaines School since March of 2008. He also works at Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital. Joe has two cats, a long hair named Luna, and a short hair named Embyr. Joe is a Registered Veterinary Technician, earned from the Gwinnett Technical College program. His internship involved working at Emory University at the Yerkes facility. His plans include a pre-med program at the University of Georgia, then eventually medical school.
Holly, Receptionist and Veterinary Assistant.Holly previously worked at Gaines School Animal Hospital from 2003-2007 returning in August of 2009. Holly has a doberman named Laila and two cats named Stripes and Satime. Holly is a musician and singer, and her stage name is Holly Belle. Her long range plans include applying to nursing school.
Haley, Veterinary Assistant.Haley is currently a student at Kennesaw State University majoring in biology with a minor in criminal justice. Haley would like to eventually work as a veterinary forensic pathologist.
Polly, Veterinary Assistant. Polly started working at both Gaines School Animal Hospital and Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital in Summer 2009 when she also graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Biological Sciences. While Polly technically has no pets of her own, she does raise puppies for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (GDF). Polly's job in this endeavor is to foster a puppy for approximately one year including obedience training and socialization in order to get them used to being out in public. Her current puppy is a golden retriever named Budd; Polly's first dog, O'Brien, went on to advanced training at the GDF campus in New York. Polly hopes to attend veterinary school in the future.
Margaret, Veterinary Assistant. Margaret started working at both Gaines School Animal Hospital and Barber Creek Veterinary Hospital in December 2009. She is working on a B.S.A. in Animal Health (pre-vet program). Margaret has nine pets including three dogs: Molly, Leigh, and Sadie, who are all mixed breeds -- two are rescues; five cats: three black and white tuxedos (they're always formal) named Dizzy, Bentley, and Baxter plus two tabbies named Montana and Stewart; and a white chinchilla named Chile.
Elizabeth, Professional Groomer. Elizabeth has been Gaines School Animal Hospital's groomer since September of 2004. She has a Doberman named Damien (who is very sweet) plus three cats (Little Kitty, Cakes, and Luna). Elizabeth is an avid horse rider who has shown and participated in competitions (Dressage and Hunter/Jumper). She has two horses, both Arabians, named Zanzibar and Exalt. Elizabeth is also a certified riding instructor. For more information about grooming services offered by Elizabeth at Gaines School Animal Hospital go to: Grooming.