Veterinarian – Self-Employed
Vancouver, Washington
Board Member Since 2002

Ruth grew up on a small family farm in Washington State. She graduated from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005, and fell in love with Colorado. After working as a small animal veterinarian in Denver for several years, she recently moved back to Washington State to be closer to her family. “I participated in my first spay/neuter clinic in Playa del Carmen during the summer of 2002 – I was in my second year of vet school at the time. We had a successful clinic, but there was obviously so much more to be done. The streets in the area were covered with sick, starving animals – a direct result of pet overpopulation and lack of resources to adequately address it. We recognized the need for a sustained presence and vowed to provide as much as we could. Four of us, all classmates at CSU, founded ViDAS that same year and have been working hard toward our cause ever since, sending down several crews a year to do high volume sterilization clinics while keeping our medical and safety standards as high as those used in clinics in the US. We are seeing changes and know that our approach is working! I am so proud of ViDAS, our crews, volunteers and our accomplishments so far and know that we will continue to do great things! Working with ViDAS has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life, and I look forward to working with our great vets, students and volunteers year after year. Thanks everyone for all your hard work!'

Operations Director
Locust Grove, Oklahoma
Board Member Since 2017

Laura Littlebear was born and raised in Oklahoma. She attended her first ViDAS clinic in 2009 and has been addicted ever since.  Laura has worked in the veterinary industry for 20 years. During this time she has worked as Director of Operations as well as other facets of vet med. Laura has a passion for animal welfare and improving the lives of pets and people that surround them. She is passionate about spay and neuter advocacy, education and sustainment. 

Laura has two human children (Bear and Morgan) who have also served as volunteers for ViDAS. Her non-human kids are Luna and Gus-Gus. She enjoys time outdoors and travelling. 

Hospital Manager, Stay-at-Home Mother
Lone Tree, Colorado
Board Member Since 2015

Kristine was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs. Her love of the mountains brought her to Boulder to study at the University of Colorado. Afterwards, she worked as the Hospital Manager and Area Manager at a small animal clinic in Littleton, with Dr. Ruth Parkin. She lives in Lone Tree, Colorado with her husband, son and Staffordshire Terrier.

It was through her friendship and working with Ruth that Kristine came to ViDAS. In August of 2014, she went on her first trip as a vet tech/photographer and really enjoyed the experience. The people, the crew, the community, the dogs, the hard work … all of it equally amazing and wonderful. She looks forward to being able to attend and support future ViDAS trips.

DVM Candidate 2021 – Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Board Member Since 2017

Katie Redd is a Colorado native who has always had a love for animals and a passion for science and medicine. While working as a veterinary technician at a local cat rescue’s spay and neuter clinic after earning her BS from Colorado State University, she discovered her passion for helping care for homeless pets and helping every animal receive the veterinary care they need. After hearing about the amazing work ViDAS does, she went on her first trip in the summer of 2017 and became very passionate about the incredible work done at the clinics. Seeing the number of people and animals that ViDAS can help in just a few days was astounding and inspiring.

As she earns her DVM degree at Colorado State University over the next 4 years, she hopes to go on many more ViDAS trips and help inspire other students to volunteer their veterinary skills toward helping the animals that need it most. When Katie isn’t busy working toward earning her DVM, she loves to travel, sing and play music, hike, paint, and cuddle her three cats Milo, Pepper, and Mira.

Veterinarian – Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center
Thousand Oaks, California
Board Member Since 2011

Dr. Travis Linney was born and raised near Denver, Colorado. He pursued his educational career at Colorado State University, first obtaining his B.S. in Biology in 2009 followed by an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences in 2010. He then continued his graduate studies as a part of Colorado State University’s joint MBA/DVM program, ultimately obtaining his MBA in the spring of 2013, and his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 2016. Following graduation, Travis went on to complete a post-doctoral internship in emergency and critical care medicine near Phoenix, Arizona, followed by a 2 year stint working emergency at a multispecialty practice in Austin, Texas. He now calls Southern California home where he continues his work in emergency medicine just north of LA. 

Travis’ first ViDAS experience took place shortly after completing his undergraduate studies in 2009. Since then, Travis has attended over a dozen ViDAS clinics and his involvement in the organization has grown steadily over time. The positive impact each ViDAS clinic can have on the surrounding community and the extremely high quality of care provided to each individual animal during a campaign are just two of the many reasons that keep him coming back for more. Outside of work, Travis spends his free time participating in just about any activity that give him an opportunity to explore the outdoors and get his blood pumping. 

Veterinarian – Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Board Member Since 2018

Dr. Cat MacPhail was born in raised in El Paso, Texas. She received her undergraduate degree from Rice University and her veterinary degree from Texas A&M University. Cat completed her rotating internship, surgical residency, soft tissue/surgical oncology fellowship, and PhD all at Colorado State University (CSU). She has been on faculty at CSU as a veterinary surgeon since 2004 and became the CSU Small Animal Chief Medical Officer in 2014. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS), as well as an ACVS Founding Fellow in Surgical Oncology.

Cat attended her first ViDAS clinic in 2015 and has been addicted and committed to the mission of this organization ever since. Cat enjoys adventure travel, snow skiing, scuba diving, and spending every other spare moment with her four dogs.

Veterinarian - Green Bay Animal Hospital
Evanston, Illinois
Board Member Since 2018

Erica Periman lives in Evanston, IL and practices small animal medicine and surgery at Green Bay Animal Hospital in Wilmette, IL. She has been involved with ViDAS since 2004, participating in 1-2 spay/neuter campaigns annually. She was in the Peace Corps in Ecuador where she was involved in starting a spay/ neuter clinic on the Galápagos Islands, and has practiced in Colorado, Wyoming and Illinois. Being a part of ViDAS has been extremely rewarding work for her and she has been lucky to have an extremely supportive husband and kids over the many years of volunteering!

DVM Candidate 2021, Colorado State University  
Fort Collins, Colorado  
Board Member Since 2018

Verónica was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received a BA from Boston College and a JD from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. Being an advocate for animal welfare and wellness, she decided to combine her legal training with a veterinary medicine degree and is currently earning her DVM at Colorado State University. While on break in Puerto Rico, she heard about the Spayathon pilot clinic and jumped on board as a ViDAS volunteer. She has been a ViDAS team member ever since and has participated in three rounds of Spayathons to date.

 Verónica calls the Spayathon clinics her “happy place”. She truly enjoys witnessing the human-animal bond during these clinics and is determined to continue to help preserve it. She hopes to keep volunteering for ViDAS and is looking forward to the day when her ViDAS name tag reads “DOCTOR ROLÁN”. In her spare time Verónica enjoys surfing, snowboarding and spending time with her three dogs—Dante, Messi and Lola, her cat—Bowie and with all of her rescued birds.