Melanie Lehmann
Veterinary Technician/Nurse
Melanie has been with the clinic since 1993. She started as a kennel tech and worked her way up the veterinary ladder. She graduated with honors from the school of hard knocks. She has had the pleasure of owning all sorts of critters including snakes, birds, dogs, cats, rodents and horses. In her lifelong career she has celebrated and mourned many fur kids that she has had the opportunity to help and care for. In her spare time she enjoys running with her dogs and enjoying the outdoors.
Lisa Schelinski, RVT
Veterinary Technician/Nurse
Lisa is originally from a suburb of Chicago, IL. Her adventures have taken her to many different places. Lisa has explored a diverse array of professions before pursuing her career in animal care. She graduated with an associate of science and obtained her degree as a Credentialed Veterinary Technician. She had been working in the veterinary field for 15 years. She enjoys gardening, motorcycle rides and of course she and her husband love spending time with their many furry family members.
Kayla Hendrix, RVT
Veterinary Technician/Nurse
Kayla has lived in Platte City since 2008, she just recently moved to Kansas City. She graduated in May of 2018 from MCC Veterinary Technology Program and earned her license as a RVT in August 2018. She has been working at the clinic since 2017. In her free time she enjoys painting, going fishing and hanging out with her husband. She enjoys taking pictures of the outdoors, and has recently gotten into doing photo shoots with couple/kids.
Georgia Appel, RVT
Veterinary Technician/Nurse
Georgia grew up in Atchison, Kansas, and graduated high school in 2019. She attended Colby Community College, where she obtained her licensure as a RVT. In eighth grade, Georgia did several job shadowing experiences, which sparked her interest to join the vet field. In her downtime, she enjoys spending quality time with her daughter and her black lab Onyx. Fun fact about Georgia is that she is a triplet!
Hannah Walker
Veterinary Assistant
Hannah was born in Utah and moved to Missouri as a young teenager where she was introduced to the equine world. She took the scenic route to realizing how much she loved animals and wanted to continue working with them through her life. With a loving family and supportive mentors at the clinic, Hannah is excited to continue learning as her dream of working with animals moves forward!
Ryleigh Coyle
Veterinary Assistant
Ryleigh is originally from Reno, Nevada and just recently moved to Parkville from Aberdeen, South Dakota. She has always had a passion for working with animals. She has two 4-year-old cats (Finn, pictured & Frank) as well as a year-and-a-half old dog named Sindri. She has been a vet assistant for just over a year and half. She enjoys working with large animals and has a goal of one day having goats. In her free time, she enjoys painting, drawing and spending time with her pets.
Kali Aughinbaugh
Veterinary Assistant
Kali has lived in Kansas City Missouri her whole life and currently is attending UMKC. She plans to transfer to a vet school in 2024 to pursue her dream job. Animals have always been a passion for Kali ever since she was a child. She has had many different pets over the years from fish to birds, horses, dogs, and cats. Any animal is cherished by her. In her free time, she spends it studying at coffee shops, taking care of her horses in Platte City, playing fetch with her dog Shelby, or cleaning her cherished MINI Clubman.
Addisyn Kelly
Veterinary Assistant
Addisyn grew up in Tonganoxie Kansas and recently moved to Weston Missouri. She has always loved the vet world and plans to further her education to become a Veterinary Technician. Addisyn loves spending time with friends and family as well as being outdoors shooting bows, hunting, and working on houses and vehicles. She loves to ride side by sides and four wheelers in her spare time as well.
Karen McDonald
Receptionist
Karen was born and raised in the Platte City area and continued living there until moving to Weston after marrying her husband Gary. She has two daughters, a son and one grandson, as well as her own furry family members. She has had her own plethora of animals through the years including dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs, hamsters, chickens and chinchillas. In her spare time she loves scrap-booking, gardening, fishing and the outdoors but most of all spending time with her family. She has been with the clinic since 1995 and loves being part of the office team.
Savanna Gower
Receptionist
Savanna joined our team in August of this year but has been in the veterinary field since 2010. Starting in the spay/neuter clinic of an animal shelter and moving to private practice a few years later, she not only found her passion in life but also her place in the world. Originally from Illinois, she moved to Independence in May and has spent the summer exploring the KC area. Savanna is an avid reader and overall homebody but won’t say no to a good fishing spot!
Kara Haney
Receptionist
Kara grew up in Topeka, Kansas with three sisters and a variety of family pets ranging from Guinea pigs to Arabian horses! She currently lives in Smithville with two horses: Painted Daisy and Disco Diva, three cats; Tiger Lily, Doppler Radar and Fostoria, one mini doxie named Lina Lucy and her husband Doug! Kara has had a love for taking care of animals ever since she can remember.
Kara comes from a background in Property Management, helping people find the perfect place to call home. In 2020, she decided to make a career change and combine her enthusiasm and love for helping both people and animals. Kara joined the Jackson Animal Clinic team in August of 2023 and is thrilled, as she has been a long time client!
She enjoys spending time outdoors, riding her horse on the trail, four wheeling, planting flowers, being on the lake and enjoying time spent laughing with family and friends.
Bev Still
Receptionist
Bev grew up on a farm in Iowa surrounded by lots of animals. This is where she developed her love for cats, dogs, cows, pigs, and really all animals. She currently lives in Smithville with her husband Chris and son Martin. She has two cats: Hobo Grady and Benj, and a jack russell terrier named Witt. Bev recently retired from the Smithville School District and started working as a receptionist at Jackson Animal Clinic in July of 2024. She is excited to be able to pursue her passion of helping animals. During her free time, she enjoys watching true crime or crime TV dramas, reading, watching Kansas City Royals baseball games, and spending time with friends and family. She is a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, a philanthropic organization, and a volunteer for KC Pet Project.
Shelby Anderson
Groomer
Shelby has been grooming for 9 years. She has a Shih Tzu mix, Callie, who is 11 years old. She has has 2 cats, Latte and Loki. Latte is 7 months old and Loki is 9 months old, both adopted shortly after starting work with Jackson Animal Clinic. She enjoys going on walks with her dog and relaxing at home.
Makayla Perron
Kennel Manager
Makayla grew up in Weston, MO. Her mom Karen also works at the clinic which sparked Makayla’s love for animals. She grew up within the walls of Jackson Animal Clinic visiting and coming to work with her mom in her childhood years. Makayla officially started working at the clinic in October of 2020. She has a minnie aussie with her husband named Merle that loves to be out on the farm herding livestock. Makayla spends her free time with family and friends. She loves going to country concerts, being outdoors and watching sports.
Lilly Scholtz
Kennel Technician
Lilly grew up in Weston Missouri, and graduated high school in 2024. She has a passion for animals and intends to pursue studies in zoology, accompanied by obtaining a certificate in wildlife animal rehabilitation. Lilly is a dedicated pet owner, caring for an orange cat named Simon, two boston terriers, two leopard geckos, and a russian tortoise. In her free time she enjoys painting and playing Sims.
Marina Flinn
Kennel Technician
Marina grew up in Kansas City, and graduated high school in 2019. She is currently enrolled at MCCKC with the intention of earning her RVT licensure. Her primary objective is to specialize in large animal care. Marina has been married for two years and engages in various outdoor activities, including horseback riding, fishing, hunting, and camping. She has been riding horses since the age of seven and has participated in barrel racing for the past twelve years. Marina has a horse, a dog, a hamster, and fish.
Kiera Lamson
Kennel Technician
Keira grew up in Ottawa KS until 2020 when she moved
to Smithville MO where she currently resides. Keira has
always been passionate for animals and especially
horses. She has volunteered at 2 therapeutic riding
centers where she has gained years of hands-on
experience. In Keira’s free-time, she enjoys walking her
two dogs, riding horses, and exercising. Keira
graduated from Smithville High in 2024 and she plans
to go to Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City
in the fall of 2024 to work towards becoming a
Veterinarian.
Lariah Eshnaur
Kennel Technician
Lariah is a senior at Platte County High School and has lived in Platte City his whole life. He has four dogs, Barney, Hagrid, Peanut, and Seymour, as well as two cats named Teek-Teek and Troudo. Lariah also has a wide variety of inside and outside fish. He has loved animals and critters ever since he was young, he would collect crabs in his pockets on vacation as well as caterpillars at home. After high school, he will be continuing his education at Missouri Western State University. When he has completed those four years his goal is to attend Vet school and become a Veterinarian.
SINGE
Singe has been a member of the family for several years now. She came to us from a house fire situation so you will notice that her ears look cropped because of this. You will most likely find her in our reception seating area waiting for someone to sit down so she can crawl in their lap, she does like being petted but only on her terms.
MOSSIE
Mossie has been a member of the family since October 2020. Karen, one of our receptionists, is her owner and has been bringing Mossie to work with her since she was just 10 weeks old. Mossie’s name came from the brand Mossy Oak because of her brindle coloring which gives her a camouflage look. Mossie loves to greet all of the clients as they come in and try to talk them out of a few treats. Her favorite time of day is nap time under mom’s desk and also when UPS and FedEx makes the deliveries and the drivers give her extra special treats.
Victoria
Receptionist
Victoria started working here in April of 2025, but she has been bringing her pets to Jackson Animal Clinic since 2011. She is an artist and art enthusiast with an eclectic music sense and a quirky self-deprecating sense of humor. She has her Masters degree in architecture from Kansas State University and loves to paint, travel, watch movies, and listen to books on audible. Most of all she loves spending time with her family, as much and as frequently as she can! She loves animals and has always had pets of her own, and loves to meet the animals that come into our clinic. Her customer-centric nature and consideration adds great value to our team. (*…and our 3 clinic cats have found a fast friend in her.)
