Our Care Team

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Kayla Noel

Practice Manager and Registered Veterinary Technologist

Kayla grew up with a Sheltie named Sunny, and it was the countless hours playing with and caring for him that first inspired her to help pets. She has always felt a natural inclination to fix things that were broken, and as she got older, her interests in anatomy and physiology started to blossom. For Kayla, caring for pets professionally in the veterinary field was simply the only choice that made sense!

Kayla is originally from the Transcona area of Winnipeg and spent many hours during her teenage years volunteering with her family’s veterinarian, learning the ins and outs of the veterinary profession hands-on. She graduated from Red River College’s Animal Health Technology program in 2010, then transferred here to Sage Creek Animal Hospital from a “sister” clinic to serve as Head Technician upon the clinic’s grand opening in April of 2013. Now, Kayla serves as the hospital’s Practice Manager! She’s especially interested in neonatal care—Kayla even volunteers with rescue groups to care for orphaned puppies and kittens—and is also fond of pet nutrition and likes helping pet owners choose the right diets for their animal companions.

When she isn’t helping to ensure things run smoothly here at the hospital, Kayla enjoys horseback riding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding—she even spent two years on the Waterski Wakeboard Manitoba Board of Directors!—and spending time with her family and pets at home.

Kayla lives on a 10-acre hobby farm east of Winnipeg with her husband, Jack, and their daughters, Rose and Evelyn. Kayla and her husband share their farm with a multitude of animal companions: a pair of Quarter horses named Storm and Neptune; an Australian Shepherd, Max, who Kayla adopted during her second year of Veterinary Technician schooling; a loving Shepherd/Malamute mix who goes by Moose; four cats named Saturn, Pluto, Styx and Rupert; and occasionally a host of pigs and chickens.

Melissa Hemminger

Registered Veterinary Technologist

Both of Melissa’s parents worked in the human healthcare field, so she’s been interested in the medical sciences ever since her earliest days. Coupled with a lifelong adoration for the earth’s creatures, a career in the veterinary world simply made sense! Melissa is proud to help pets live happier, healthier lives on a daily basis as a Registered Veterinary.

Melissa grew up on a honey farm three hours southwest of Winnipeg, where she and her family kept everything from pigs, chickens, cats, and dogs, to hamsters, a guinea pig, and fish. She attended Red River College in Winnipeg to study in their Animal Health Technology course, even serving as Class President and graduating with honors. Shortly after her time in school, Melissa joined the Sage Creek Animal Hospital family—she’s been here ever since.

Medically, Melissa enjoys the challenges of placing IV lines and completing dental cleaning procedures. She never tires of hearing before-and-after stories of pets who have been revitalized after a thorough tooth cleaning! Melissa also likes discussing animal care techniques with pet owners.

In her time away from work, Melissa can be found crocheting, camping, baking and going for walks with her husband and son. She also enjoys spending time with her cats, Maple and Stella. 

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Wayne Mackey

Registered Veterinary Technologist

Starting from childhood, Wayne had a desire to care for animals as a profession. Wayne finds caring for each animal as if they were his own extremely rewarding. Wayne was born and raised in Winnipeg. He is an only child from a small family. He has had dogs since he was 4 years old. Being around dogs since a young age influenced his ultimate career choice.
Wayne began school in the Business Administration program at Red River College. After starting the program, he realized that his true calling was in animal health. He registered for the Animal Health Technology Program the same day he discontinued Business Administration program. Wayne started working at Sage Creek Animal Hospital in February 2020. His favorite part of the job is client education, pet nutrition and inventory management. Wayne has two dogs, Stewie and Megatron. Stewie is an Italian greyhound/chihuahua and Megatron is Jack Russell Terrier. When not working, Wayne enjoys camping, gardening, barbequing, and playing Softball and Hockey.

Emma Stewart

Veterinary Assistant

Working as a veterinary assistant was something that Emma had always felt that she would excel at. She loves working with both the clients and the patients. Emma loves that she is learning new things everyday about how to keep your pet happy and healthy.
Emma was born and raised in Winnipeg. She attended the Veterinary Office Assistant program at Robertson College and graduated in 2014. She previously worked at another clinic before joining the Sage Creek family in May 2019. Emma loves the interaction with clients. If you have a concern, then she is concerned too! Her favorite part of the job is being able to help with surgical procedures, treatments and pet care. Emma recently went to Guelph, Ontario for a tour of the Royal Canin plant. She found it to be a very informative experience and is excited to share what she learned about Royal Canin with clients.
Emma lives with her two cats, Ella and Frankie. When not at work, she likes to attend gym classes, such as cycling or kickboxing, going for bike rides and cross-stitching.
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Jennifer Ritchot

Veterinary Assistant

Jenny’s love for working with animals began when she was young. Her parents would foster young kittens, sometimes as young as 1 day old, until they were old enough to be adopted and she would help wherever she could. This often-involved bottle feeding and lots of kitten cuddles!
Jenny grew up in Morden, Manitoba with her younger siblings. After graduating from high school, Jenny went to the University of Manitoba to study the pre-vet program. After finishing at University of Manitoba, she began working in childcare. In 2016, her dog, Dash, was diagnosed with epilepsy. When learning about epilepsy and what was involved with the diagnosis, Jenny became even more interested in pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. After completing her Veterinary Office Assistant program at Robertson College, Jenny moved back to Winnipeg from Drumheller, Alberta and began working at Sage Creek Animal Hospital. Her favourite part of her job is getting to meet all the new and current patients and clients. Seeing
Jenny lives in St. Norbert with her husband, Jesse and her son, Finn. Together, they have three cats, Lieutenant Dan, Starr and Taco and a Nova Scotian Duck Toller cross named Dash. When not at work, Jenny loves to bake and try new Pinterest recipes! She will never pass up an offer for sushi or seafood and can usually be found spending time with family and friends.

Chantel Richey

Registered Veterinary Technologist

Chantel has been told all her life that animals are her calling, and some have even said she has a sixth sense for all types of animals. She grew up surrounded by animals, her family dog Buddy, many cats over the years, guinea pigs, hamsters, a chinchilla, and even rescued some beta fish one time. From 3 years old Chantel has wanted to help, heal, and make sure every animal feels loved, so becoming a Veterinarian Technologist was the perfect fit as an adult.
She started in the veterinary field in 2013 working as a veterinary assistant for 7 years where she grew her love of surgeries, emergencies, and client education. She graduated from the Veterinary Technologist program at Red River College in 2021 and can’t wait to further her career with Sage Creek Animal Hospital. Chantel hopes to further develop her skill set in behavior and dentistry and is more than excited to help clients with the best care for their fur babies.
Her love for animals extends into her free time, as she and a colleague also run a mobile nail trimming service for pets on the weekends! Chantel also enjoys spending time outdoors with walks or even just sitting on a deck. Her greatest joy is being an aunt to her nieces and nephews and spends as much time as she can with friends and family. Chantel currently is a fur mom to her boxer cross, Dexter, and cat, max, but looks forward to fostering and adopting with her partner in the near future.

Roxy Herie

Veterinary Assistant

As a child, she grew up with a variety of animals, such as horses, goats, chickens, ponies, cats, and dogs, but her favorites have always been horses and cats. She wanted to be in a field that would better help her understand any animal that she would have in the future.
She was born in St Boniface, Winnipeg, and grew up all throughout southern Manitoba. In 2019 she graduated from the Veterinary Assistant course at Robertson College. She worked for a few years at another clinic before coming to Sage Creek Animal Hospital in July 2021. She has always had a fascination with lab work and learning anything that she could.
Roxanne’s interests outside of the clinic include reading books and manga, going out to hang with her friends. Watching anime and movies, especially horror movies. Anything with ancient history has always fascinated her, such as the Egyptian pyramids and the Greek temples. She has always had the biggest wanderlust to travel and that the world is bigger and more exciting than ever.
She shares her home with her cat named Stitch, after the movie Lelo & Stitch as she is exactly like the movie version of her name. There are two other furry friends that live with them are Piper and Nero, Roxanne’s roommates’ cats.

Bria Yeryk

Registered Veterinary Technologist

Bio Coming Soon!
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