The people who know your pet.

Originally from Hesperia, California, Heidi moved to Humboldt County after high school and started her career with animals as a pet groomer. In 2005 she took her first job in veterinary medicine, as a receptionist at Sunny Brae Animal Clinic.

Five years later she came to manage McKinleyville Animal Care Center, and helped rebuild and grow the practice for nearly five years. In 2015 she partnered with Dr. Cathy Schmall to buy it. Today she is a proud owner and manager of a team of more than twenty.

Heidi is happily married and is raising her three sons, Cruz, Andres and Rico, here in McKinleyville.

Raised in a farming family in California’s Central Valley, Dr. Schmall has loved animals all her life. After Humboldt State University she worked several years as a wildlife technician for the US Forest Service, then went to the Atlantic Veterinary College on Prince Edward Island, Canada, graduating in 2005, and completed a rotating internship at a specialty center in Rochester, New York.

She came back to Humboldt in 2011 and in 2015 jumped at the chance to buy McKinleyville Animal Care Center, where she had worked before vet school. It was a full circle: reuniting with former coworkers and many, many loyal clients.

Away from work she travels, and kayaks and hikes with her wife and their dogs, Sadie and Maggie.

Rachael was born and raised in Humboldt County. After Eureka High School she earned a degree in animal science at UC Davis, then graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2009, and has worked at McKinleyville Animal Care Center ever since.

On her days off she, her husband and their three children hike around the county with their dog, Batman, and spend time at Mad River Beach.

Dr. Daher was born and raised in Mexico City. His professional focus is surgery and internal medicine. He was medical director of a veterinary clinic in Mexico City before founding his own mobile diagnostic and surgical practice, then earned a Master of Science and his NAVLE certification, and worked a season as a general practitioner in northern Texas before moving to Humboldt County.

In his free time he walks, cycles, travels and enjoys meeting new people and exploring new places.

Dr. Barrio earned her degree in veterinary medicine in 2018. Her early career focused on wildlife medicine, including clinical social service in Guadalajara and a thesis on the Mexican axolotl, followed by a Master of Science researching stress responses in three opossum species. Alongside, she built her small-animal practice, focusing on preventive medicine and at-home care during the pandemic. In Texas she moved fully into companion animal medicine; her main interests are urgent care, internal medicine and preventive care.

She keeps active with gymnastics, acrobatics, dance and hiking with her dog, Adora, and cat, Zafiro.

Julia was one of our long-term receptionists, cross-trained as a technician, and has been our assistant manager since 2022, running daily operations.

She grew up at Ruth Lake, hunting and fishing. She has three dogs, Radar, Henry and Odie, and two cats, Ti-Ti and Bagheera, and spends her free time with her husband, in her garden, crafting and outdoors.