or call (520) 877-2626
during business hours
Meet the OGAH Team!
Veterinarians
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Dr. Walter Merker received his BS in molecular, cell and developmental biology in 2005 from UC Santa Cruz. In 2010, he received his DVM from UC Davis in California. He spent two years in Las Vegas in a small animal and exotic practice before joining the Tucson, AZ veterinarians at Orange Grove Animal Hospital in the summer of 2012. When not treating our exotic mammals, reptiles, and dog and cat patients, he is writing articles for REPTILES magazine and participating in the Tucson Herpetological Society. Dr. Merker has two dogs: Grady, a Norwich terrier, and Greta, a boxer mix; two cats, Melon and Einstein; and numerous reptiles and amphibians. Dr. Merker’s hobbies include herpetology, mountain biking, and spending time with his pets and his family, including his adorable sons.
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Coming Soon!
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Dr. Denise Gordon has been associated with veterinary medicine for as long as
she can remember. She began working as a kennel tech for a large animal hospital while still in
high school. From there she become a veterinary assistant and then a certified veterinary
technician. She went on to graduate from Texas A and M University and then from Ross
University in 2006.
Dr. Gordon admits to having a soft spot for shelter animals, volunteering her time
with the Rural Area Veterinary Service while still a student, and the Humane
Society Spay and Neuter clinic after graduation. She also worked as the Staff
Veterinarian for a local shelter (Pima Paws for Life), providing preventive health care
treatments and vaccinations. In fact, her family of 4 dogs were all adopted. As a General
Practitioner, Dr. Gordon emphasizes preventive medicine. She believes in the partnership
between pet owners and doctors and strives to develop the best treatment plan for each
situation. Dr. Gordon always has the best interest of both pet care-givers and their pets at
heart.
When not working Dr. Gordon enjoys walking her dogs, trying new restaurants,
and spending time with friends and family.
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Dr. Kimberly Spalding grew up in Tucson, Arizona. She began working in stables at a young age
and decided early on that she wanted to pursue a career taking care of animals. She studied
Biology at Northern Arizona University and went on to receive her DVM from Michigan State
University 2015. She completed a one-year internship in equine medicine and then joined our
practice in 2016. She devotes several hours each week to riding and caring for her horse,
Velvet. She also enjoys traveling and all things true crime.
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Dr. Sophia Valdez received her doctorate of veterinary medicine through Colorado State University. She holds the highest level of Fear Free Certification Elite and is Low Stress Handling Silver certified.
Despite falling in love with the woods of Colorado, the calls of Arizona quail, the curious nature of lizards, and the beauty of monsoon season called her back home to Tucson. Prior to vet school, Dr. Valdez was both an intern zookeeper and a service dog trainer. Her guide dog trainee, Pathfinder, even spent his first year of training alongside her in vet school, earning his honorary doctorates in puppy-years before graduating through Guide Dogs for the Blind. The zoo and service dog world solidified Dr. Valdez’s love of conservation and animal behavior, making her an advocate for all creatures around us. After all, “A person’s a person, no matter how small”.
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Coming Soon!
Vet Techs
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Angela started an internship at Orange Grove Animal Hospital in the spring of 2013. At
the time, she was working toward her certification as a veterinary technician at Pima
Community College. She completed that program in 2014 and received her formal certification
in 2015. After graduation, she was hired as one of our main surgery technicians.
Angela is a mother of three wonderful children. She is also a mom to eight dogs, four tortoises,
two box turtles, two iguanas, two bearded dragons, one leopard gecko and sixteen snakes.
Angela is also a full-time Senior Forensic Technician for the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
She quips that her spare time is spent sleeping, but who are we kidding?? She has no spare
time!
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Jazzy was born in Garfield Lake, Ohio. She grew up in a family that loves animals to
include dogs, cats, birds and numerous reptiles. She received her CVT training through Pima
Community College and first came to Orange Grove Animal Hospital as an extern in 2015. She
currently loves and cares for many pets of her own, including seven large dogs, two cats, one
monitor lizard, one Veiled Chameleon and four snakes. Jazzy is a skilled veterinary technician
with special interests in exotic animal medicine and animal behavior. Outside of veterinary
medicine, Jazzy enjoys art and the outdoors. She spends her spare time rock climbing, traveling,
creating miniature clay sculptures and exploring nutrition science.
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Zach was born in Tucson, Arizona. He grew up in a family of six with numerous pets,
including dogs, chickens, a bearded dragon and even a tarantula! He completed his Bachelor of
Veterinary Science at the University of Arizona. He came to Orange Grove Animal Hospital as a
volunteer hoping to gain experience in the field of veterinary medicine. He has been working
with us since 2016, first as an overnight kennel technician and now as a daytime veterinary
assistant. He currently has a Sonoran Desert Tortoise at home but is hoping to one day add a
grumble of pugs. He is developing his skills as a technician daily and hopes to one day return
school and complete his veterinary degree. Outside of veterinary medicine, he spends most of
his time with his large family or re-watching his favorite T.V. show “The Office” for the 20 th time.
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Angela joined our team in February 2019. Angela graduated high school a year
early and immediately went to college to pursue her passion, a career working with animals.
She has veterinary assistant certificates from both Pima Community College and Pima Medical
Institute. Angela started working at Orange Grove Animal Hospital as a kennel technician, but
she now works as one of our treatment technicians, helping doctors and other technicians with
diagnostics and animal care. She also lends a hand as a receptionist when necessary. When she
is away from the practice, Angela enjoys spending time at home with her family. She has two
dogs, two guinea pigs, two shubunkin goldfish, two tortoises, a corn snake and a bearded
dragon.
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Elisa completed the Carrington College Veterinary Assistant program in 2014. She
has special interests in small animal surgery and exotic animal medicine. Her pets include a cat
named Charlie and two dogs, a Boy Named Sue and Patsy. She also has a Box Turtle named
Turtle and a Green-cheeked Conure named Henry. In her free time, she enjoys spending time
with her daughter and husband.
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A graduate of the University of Arizona’s Veterinary Science program in 2010, Krystal has been a technician here in various capacities since 2005. She became Dr. Jarchow’s full time technician in March of 2010. Caring for Dr. Jarchow’s clients and patients are only part of her day, she also spends time caring for our hospitalized reptiles and is the acting supervisor on the weekends. Outside of work, a very active and adorable son and three pugs, Daytona, Talladega, and Pocono, keep her and her husband on their toes.
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Ehryn grew up in farm country in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She has always had an
undeniable love for animals. She moved to Arizona in 2005 for a change of scenery and to raise
her two young sons. Ehryn attended Pima Community College and PMI, where she received her
veterinary assistant certificate. She started working at Orange Grove Animal Hospital in 2013
and has held many positions here as she learned and developed her technical skills through the
years. She loves the outdoors, traveling, swimming and hanging out with her family and her
three dogs (Marcel, Klaus and Fiona) and cat (Tiger).
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Azaree is currently working on her Veterinary Technician Associate Degree through Penn
Foster College. She loves animals, especially reptiles, and has a little zoo of snakes, a gecko, a
tortoise, and two cats named Faber and Atlas. She grew up in the Sonoran Desert, riding horses
and catching the critters in her yard. She enjoys working with all animals, big and small. When
she’s not at Orange Grove Animal Hospital, she’s probably in the desert somewhere looking for
snakes or at home studying with the cats.
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Coming Soon!
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Debbie completed her veterinary assistant certification through Carrington College in
2017. She did her externship at Orange Grove Animal Hospital and was hired immediately
thereafter. She enjoys working at Orange Grove Animal Hospital and refers to the staff as her
“second family.” Debbie is a detail-oriented person, remembering birthdays and special events
for her colleagues and always making sure that animals are sent home looking their best after
surgery. She has four cats, three dogs and a baby Sonoran Desert Tortoise at home. In her free
time, she enjoys swimming and hiking. She donates what she can to local animal shelters in
remembrance of her dog that passed away in 2021.
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Rain is currently a sophomore studying Veterinary Sciences at the University of Arizona. She was first hired as a kennel technician and is now working as a veterinary technician at our hospital. If accepted, she plans to attend the U of A school of veterinary medicine beginning in the fall of 2024 undecided of which specialty she may choose to pursue.
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Jordan is a Kansas City native with a lifelong passion for animals having grown up helping in her grandfather’s veterinary clinic. She obtained her BA in Business Management in 2019 before moving overseas to Okinawa, Japan. She lived there for 3 years with her husband who is in the Air Force and it was there that she directed her career path towards animal care. She worked there as a dog trainer for 2 years and is currently applying to veterinary school. Jordan has a 3 year old German Shepherd who always keeps her busy with a never ending game of fetch.
Kennel Techs
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Damon is a lifelong Tucson resident who loves animals and has been taking care of
them his entire life. He grew up with a large animal family of four dogs and three cats. As a
teenager, his first job was being a pet sitter for dogs, cats and reptiles. He also used to work for
the app “Rover” caring for and medicating dogs while their owners were away on vacation. He
has volunteered as a technician and has been a technician assistant and kennel technician for
Orange Grove Animal Hospital since 2018. Damon attended Pima Community College, where he
majored in Computer Science. He is an avid tech geek.
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Allison started with us in January of 2022 after getting her Veterinary assistant certification from Carrington college in 2021. She’s born and raised in Tucson, she grew up around many animals and always knew she wanted to help them. Dogs especially have her heart, she has 2 dogs, 2 lizards and a cat herself, but her house has many different animals. In her free time you can always find her with her fur babies Blondie and July.
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Coming Soon!
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Jason has been a part of the veterinary field for over seven years. He completed The Veterinary Assistant Course through Carrington College in 2013. Jason got his start in the veterinary field in 2015 when he began working as a Kennel tech/Patient Care Assistant in a Veterinary ER here in town. Jason is the proud pet dad of two chihuahuas named Duke & Fido, a banana ball python named Kaa, and a rat named Splinter.
Receptionists
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Coming Soon!
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Serena is a born and raised Tucsonan. She completed the Veterinary Assistant
certification course through Animal Behavior College and is currently working toward her
Veterinary Technician degree through Penn Foster College. She enjoys working in the veterinary
field and strives to provide compassionate care for patients and clients. Her home zoo currently
consists of one dog and one fantastic cat, but she hopes to expand the menagerie when she
completes her education. Outside of Veterinary Medicine, she enjoys fishing, venturing to new
places whenever possible.
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Coming Soon!
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Sherri was born in Honolulu Hawaii and grew up an Army brat spending about 20 years in West Virginia. She has always loved animals and currently has 2 dogs and snakes.
She has spent over 20 years working customer service from training computer systems across the US to reception here at OGAH. She is an avid tattoo collector and spends her spare time creating resin art as a hobby.
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Coming Soon!
Administration
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Carrie joined the Orange Grove team in 1993. First as a receptionist at Sonora Animal Hospital (our previous location off of Oracle), then as the assistant manager. When Sonora AH was closed in July 2008, Carrie transferred to Orange Grove AH as our assistant manager. She has worn many hats over the years with the company. Receptionist, technician, after-hours technician, supervisor, manager. Her experience in all aspects of the clinic make her a vital component to the day to day running of our practice. Even now, it is often her voice who greets clients as they call to make appointment. When she isn’t running the day to day operations here at Orange Grove, Carrie runs a busy household of two school aged girls, two dogs, Emily and Pixie, three rats, Butterscotch, Lily and Dandelion, and her husband who is also a small business owner.
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Dennis has been with the company since almost the beginning. First as a kennel/veterinary technician, then as a receptionist and for many years as our practice manager. When he isn’t working hard to keeping the behind the scenes financial aspects of the practice running smooth, he occasionally steps in to help with trauma and emergency cases. Outside of the practice he is kept busy thanks to a very active son, his lovely wife and their energetic adopted chihuahua, Duke.