Our Staff

• Dr. Valeria Rickard

  
  

  Dr. Valeria Rickard, the practice owner, is a Virginia Tech Veterinary School graduate. She had been practicing small animal veterinary medicine and surgery in the Northern Virginia area for the past six years until realizing the dream of opening her own state-of-the-art practice here in Leesburg. With her husband John, Dr. Rickard has designed and built a facility large enough to serve the needs of all their companion animal clients while retaining the feel of personalized service. In addition to her skills in general feline and canine medicine and surgery, Dr. Rickard, well known for her special interest and expertise in canine reproduction, is one of the few veterinarians in the U.S. trained to perform specialized procedures such as transcervical artificial insemination and canine semen freezing. Her vast clientele is drawn from across the entire United States including Alaska, and includes numerous clients from Europe and South America. The local airport has more than once been the recipient of private planes bringing their beloved pets to visit with Dr. Rickard and reap the benefits of her extensive knowledge of canine reproduction. Dr. Rickard was born in Moscow, Russia and attributes her deep love of animals to her first Airedale "Toybritt" with who she did agility, conformation, and Shutzhund training. She has been an avid breeder and exhibitor of champion Airedale and Welsh Terriers for over ten years. With her husband John, she is the loving owner of two crazy cats and numerous terriers which she has shown to multiple championship titles herself. Dr. Rickard played Division 1 tennis in college on full scholarship and continues to play in her "spare time" ;). Dr. Rickard offers seminars and symposiums in the latest advances in canine reproduction and pediatrics to local, national, and international organizations, schools, and kennel clubs. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American and European Reproduction Societies, and local and national kennel clubs.

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• Dr. Alexandra Fischer

  
  

  Originally from Boston, Dr. Alexandra Fischer moved around a great deal before settling in Northern Virginia earlier this year. She had a successful career as a children’s book editor before pursuing her dream career as a veterinarian. Dr. Fischer is a 1991 graduate of Dartmouth College and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at VCA/Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg, MD in June of 2009. In her spare time, Dr. Fischer is enjoying exploring Washington D.C. and the surrounding area. She also enjoys cooking, fine dining, reading, yoga, movies, and playing in a Rock Band. She has a 12-year old mixed breed dog named Sam-I-Am, who likes to accompany her everywhere and a 10 year-old Maine Coon mix, Bob, whose favorite pastime is following sunbeams around the house. Dr. Fischer is thrilled to be part of the North Oatlands team and looks forward to meeting you and your pets!

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• John Rickard

  
  

  John Rickard is the Business Manager for the Practice (as well as providing computer support, web & graphics design, and the one who has to do all the heavy lifting). Little did he realize when first he first met Dr. Rickard (10 years ago...then just Valeria) that he would eventually marry her and become Business Manager for NOAH. Funny how things work out... John was born and raised in nearby Thurmont, Maryland, by wonderful parents who instilled him with strong values, honor and common sense. John's dad Glenn owned his own business as well as possessed the skills required to build their house (along with HIS father). Just working along side him allowed John to develop his work ethic as well as learning all his life-practical handyman-type skills. Throughout high school and college, John "pushed the envelope" in both the Math and Computer Sciences departments (that time not being very extensive) and found his own way to leverage those areas towards a Bachelor's Degree from Mt St Mary's College. At age 14, John attended his first martial arts class, thus beginning an introspective journey which continues today. For the next 23 years, he has studied with a non-profit, traditional Martial Arts school - In Ji Yong Martial Arts - in Frederick Maryland. He has earned the rank of 3rd degree black belt and today teaches both children and adults in the same traditional fashion that he learned. In addition to the many "menial" jobs held throughout school, and his martial arts teaching, John has worked as a computer programmer and software designer in both the Public and Private sectors, landing as Senior Software Designer for UUNET -> WorldCom -> MCI -> Verizon). At home in Haymarket, with his wife (Dr. Rickard) he tends the herd and tries to keep the house from being taken apart by the numerous dogs & cats they have as well.. so add kennel assistant and dog groomer to the list of jobs. In his "spare time" John enjoys traveling and scuba diving.

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• Kelly Frye

  
  

  Kelly comes to us with 10 years of working in the veterinary field. She has a great love of animals and making their life as wonderful as possible. That love shines through in the faces of the many animals she has rescued. She resides in Bluemont with her boyfriend and her large furry family. In her off time she is busy caring for her many animals. Her hopes for the future is to continue to do what she loves and that is working with animals and improving there quality of life. She hopes to make your visit along with you pet as pleasant as possible.

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• Kathleen Lally , LVT

  
  

  Katie comes to us with 10 + years experience in the Veterinary field. She graduated from Northern Virginia Community College in 2000 and is now a practicing Licensed Veterinary Technician. She went to school because of her love for animals and wants to try her hardest to give them the best quality care and medical treatment. She knows it’s a challenging field, but really enjoys seeing the good that comes out of her hard work. She lives in West Virginia with her husband Doug, and her 8 month old daughter Sadie. She has a 14 year old dog Bop, 2 year old Golden Retriever mix Mr. Charlie, 6 year old cat Dream, and a 3 year old cat Widdles.

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• Angela Norfleet

  
  

  Angela hails from a place she likes to call “everywhere, USA.” Born and raised in a military family, she has lived pretty much everywhere from overseas in Turkey to the west coast of the United States. She resides in Purcellville, Virginia with her family and pets. She has a younger sister and an older sister.  Angela came to NOAH in November of 2007. Although this is her first job in the veterinary world, her love for animals has been with her for all of her life. While she is not working, she likes to spend time training her 3 dogs (8 month old German Shorthaired Pointer “Dixie” and 5 year old beagles “Buddy” and “Amber”) and working on cars. She currently resides in Purcellville, Virginia with her family and is a full-time student at the local community college. Although she is majoring in General Studies, with hopes of graduating this spring, she plans to continue with her studies in either criminal justice or veterinary technology. She enjoys spending time with friends whether it be bowling or just hanging out. The best place to find her is under the hood of her boyfriends 1980 corvette, learning everything that she can possibly learn and working on anything that she can possible work on. Angela hopes to make everyone’s visit to our clinic as pleasant as possible and hopes to meet all of our clients and their beloved pets in the near future. She also hopes to assist everyone’s needs in the best way possible and help build the bridge between clients and their best friends’ providers.

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• Kim Beaston

  
  

  Kim was born and raised in Alexandria, VA. She moved to Leesburg in 2004 to get away from the traffic and noise, and has lived here ever since. Kim has had no less than 2 animals at any given time since she was a kid. Currently, she has Jordyn, a hyper-active 1 year old puggle, Chewie, the cutest little butt shaking black dog in the world and 3 lazy cats. In the future, she hopes to start her own rescue organization. This energetic and enthusiastic lady has worked in the veterinary field since 2005 and has experience working in almost every department, (front desk supervisor, technician, and kennel assistant), but enjoys technician work the most. Kim can’t wait to meet all of NOAH’s clients and their four legged family members!

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• Betsy Monroe

  
  

  Betsy has been grooming for 28 years. After training in Florida, she decided to open her own grooming business. She was very sucessful there and worked with many great clients and their pets until deciding to move to Northern Virginia. So, after packing up her tools, her family and her pets... she came north. Once here in Virginia, she again resumed her grooming, this time for an Animal Hospital in Reston. During the 10 years she spent there, she also cross-trained as a technician and enhanced her skills to go well beyond those typical to a standard groomer. From there, she moved her grooming operations here to Leesburg, where she has been working for the past 15 years. During this time her skill has become well known and she has built quite a following. Betsy specializes in grooming dog & cats, but also has experience with birds as well as "pocket pets". Not to exclude the "larger" crowd, she also has extensive experience with horses and ponies. :) Betsy has been involved in animal rescue for over three decades, and has a "house full" of her own! We at North Oatlands are VERY pleased to Welcome Betsy to the team.

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• Aleta & Gary Fox

  
  

  Aleta lends her talents to inventory management, Website Design and Software Configuration. She also has a wonderful eye for decorating and gardening. Along with her husband Gary, she is responsible for the outside plantings in both the front flower bed and alongside the street entrance and all of the seasonal decorations. (the doggie statue was her idea and everyone loves it!).

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