Specialists

Julie K. Shaw, RVT, KPA-CTP, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT Past President

Julie Shaw is the Senior Animal Behavior Technologist at the Purdue University Animal Behavior Clinic in Indiana. She is a charter member of the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians and president of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians. Serving as editor for the behavior section for Veterinary Technician journal, she is also a faculty member for the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior and faculty member for Clicker Expo. Julie Shaw is editor of Animal Behavior for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses published by Blackwell Publishing and expected to be released in 2011.

Ms. Shaw is a popular national and international speaker on problem prevention, practical application of behavior modification techniques and other companion animal behavior related topics. She was the recipient of the North American Veterinary Conference 2006 Veterinary Technician Speaker of the Year Award and was named the 2007 NAVC Mara Memorial Lecturer of the year for her accomplishments and leadership in the veterinary technician profession, co-received the 2008 SVBT research award and was chosen the 2009 Western Veterinary Conference Veterinary Technician Speaker of the Year.

 

Ginny Price, MS, CVT, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT President

Ginny Price graduated from Saint Petersburg Junior College, Veterinary Technology Program, in 1981 and became certified the same year. She worked at a small animal practice from 1981-1999 and began teaching the Small Animal Breeds and Behavior Laboratory at SPJC (Saint Petersburg Junior College, which is now Saint Petersburg College) in 1995. In May of 2000 she attended the five-day lecture and practicum class at Purdue University, DOGS 2000!.      

Ginny was an animal behavior laboratory research assistant at the University of South Florida from 2001-2006 where she also earned her BA in psychology. She earned her Masters degree in General Psychology at Walden University in 2007.     

From 2002 – 2005, Ginny worked at Main Street Animal Hospital, a progressive, bond centered small animal practice in Dunedin, Florida. She continues to teach small animal behavior as well as various other courses at Saint Petersburg College, Veterinary Technology Program. Advanced Veterinary Behavior was developed by Terry Curtis, DVM, DACVB and Ginny for the BAS program.      

Ginny has given lectures on animal behavior for various local, state, and national veterinary conferences.     

She is a member of FVTA (Florida Veterinary Technician Association), AVTE (Association of Veterinary Technician Educators), AALAS (American Association for Laboratory Animal Science), and NAVTA (North American Veterinary Technician Association). She is a founding member and past president of SVBT (The Society of Veterinary Behavior) and a founding member of AVBT (The Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians).     

Ginny and her husband, Jerry, have two girls: Emily and Hannah. She has a Golden retriever: Scarlett, two cats: Chocolate Milk and Rose Puss, and a rabbit: Conito.     

 

Angela Martin Licari, CVT, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT Treasurer

Angela Martin Licari has been in the field of feline behavior since 1994 when she pioneered the Feline Socialization Program at Tree House Animal Foundation in Chicago, Illinois.  At this time she also founded her private feline behavior consultation service, Feline Fine Again.  She became a Certified Veterinary Technician in 2001 after graduating from Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin. 

Feline Fine From The Start: Getting Started on the Right Paw is a kitten-socialization and owner-education class that Angela loves to teach.  Teaching other technicians how to incorporate a similar class in their own clinic is one of her favorite speaking topics.  She was interviewed on the Best Friends radio show about kitten socialization and kitten classes.  Angela also provides seminars and workshops in feline behavior for veterinary students, veterinary technician associations, humane societies, cat fancier organizations, and cat owners.  She is a member of the Wisconsin Veterinary Technician Association, North American Veterinary Technician Association, Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians, and the organizing committee of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians.   

Angela is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and is the Founder and Director of Atagahi Wildlife Haven in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.  She is passionately involved in the study of behaviors of native wildlife as the animals are her best teachers.  This enables her to incorporate environmental enrichment in the rehabilitation of orphaned wildlife to ensure the best possible post-release survival rates.  She is licensed for a variety of captive wildlife for educational purposes specializing in raccoons. 

 

Linda M. Campbell, RVT, CPDT-KA, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT Secretary

Linda has been employed by the Humane Society of Missouri since 1975, working in the animal shelter, veterinary medical center and administration.  Currently Linda serves as Director of the Behavior and Training Department. She also worked part-time for fifteen years at The St. Louis Animal Emergency Clinic gaining invaluable experience in emergency medicine.  

A 1990 graduate of the Jefferson College veterinary technology program, Linda became a registered veterinary technician with the state of Missouri that same year.   Once she learned of the correlation between problem behaviors and animal surrenders, Linda selected behavior as the focus of her efforts.

Over the years, Linda has assisted in disaster-related missions (Hurricane Katrina, Missouri floods, and Oklahoma City tornadoes) as well as rescues of animal from abusive/neglected situations.  In 2009 Linda and her department worked with an ASPCA behavior team and Debra Horwitz, DVM, DACVB to evaluate behavioral responses of over 500 pit bulls confiscated in an FBI dog-fighting bust.

She currently is an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer.  Linda is a member of the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians, the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and a founding member of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians.  

She has lectured at several national, state and local veterinary and animal welfare conferences.

Linda lives in the Midwest with her husband, Marty, son Nick, and a multiple menagerie of dogs, cats and birds.

 

Marcia Rafter Ritchie, LVT, CPDT-KA, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT Member at Large

Marcia Rafter Ritchie graduated from SUNY Delhi with an AAS in Veterinary Science in 1977. She worked in private veterinary practices for 20 years where her passion for animal behavior was cultivated by the veterinarians she worked with.

Marcia has been an obedience and conformation dog show competitor since 1979 and is an occasional breeder of Pembroke Welsh Corgis.

She has been a professional pet obedience instructor since 1984 and was in the first group of 120 instructors to receive national certification through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), of which she is a charter member. A past board member of the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians, she is currently serving on several committees. She is a member of the organizing committee of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians, which recently was granted specialty status by National Association of Veterinary Technicians of America (NAVTA).

Marcia is one of the co-authors of SVBT’s “Building the Veterinary Behavior Team” manual. Her behavior articles have been published in both the SVBT newsletter and the Veterinary Technician magazine as well as local publications.

Marcia is the Director of Training and Behavior for “The Family Companion”. She now supervises a training staff of 6 instructors who teach pet obedience classes in 5 different locations in the Buffalo New York area. Marcia teaches group classes, private instruction, assists veterinarians with behavior modification and does pet selection counseling. She is a consultant for the Erie County SPCA and a volunteer 4-H leader in the dog program.

In addition to her passion for dogs, Marcia is an avid gardener who custom grows heirloom vegetables, herbs and edible blossoms for area restaurants.

 

Debbie Martin, BS, RVT, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, VTS (Behavior)
AVBT President Elect

Debbie has a B.S. from The Ohio State University in human ecology, and an associate of applied science degree in veterinary technology from Columbus State Community College. She has been a full time registered veterinary technician since 1996 and has been actively involved in the field of animal behavior. Since 2005 Debbie has been the Animal Behavior Technician for Veterinary Behavior Consultations, a mobile veterinary clinic with practice limited to animal behavior. She is an active member and the previous recording secretary for SVBT (The Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians) and is a member of APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers). Debbie is also a Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP). In November 2009 she became a faculty member for the Karen Pryor Academy Dog Training Program. Debbie and Dr. Kenneth Martin teach a small animal behavior course for veterinary and veterinary technician students at Louisiana State University every year. She has lectured on animal behavior and training at numerous local and national veterinary conferences. In 2009 Debbie and Dr. Martin co-authored a 200 page book on puppy socialization and training titled, Puppy Start Right: Foundation Training for the Companion Dog. Debbie has published articles in Veterinary Technician magazine, Animal Magazine, and the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians (SVBT) Newsletter.

Debbie and her husband, Ken, share their home with 3 Belgian Malinois and a Beagle-terrier mix. Debbie has begun competing in agility with her youngest Malinois and has quickly become an agility fanatic.

 

 

Alicea Schaeffer RVT, VTS (Behavior), KPA CTP, CPDT-KA

Alicea Schaffer graduated from Purdue University with her Bachelor degree in Veterinary Technology, in 2003. She received her Certified Pet Dog Trainer in November, 2006 and graduated the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior in November, 2008. Alicea works as a behavior technician in a small animal and exotic practice in Franklin, IN where she has taught puppy kindergarten, clicker training and behavior modification for 8 years. She has lectured to veterinary technicians at state, regional and national conferences. She also has published articles in Veterinary Technician Magazine, Good Bird INC, and Healthy pet. Alicea is on the board of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians and the president of the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians.

Alicea lives in Franklin, IN with her Jack Russell Terrier and two retired greyhounds. She loves to Hike, camp, surf and practice yoga in her spare time.

 

 

Monique Feyrecilde LVT, VTS (Behavior)

Since 1997, Monique Feyrecilde has been a team member at Mercer Island Veterinary Clinic in Mercer Island, Washington. In 1999, she began serving as clinic manager, and was credentialed as a technician in 2002. Monique currently manages the clinic and serves as head technician. Realizing more pets become homeless and are euthanized for unwanted behaviors than any disease, Monique spearheaded implementation of behavior protocols within her clinic.

Teaching private lessons for dogs and owners since 1996, Monique added group classes at Seattle Agility Center to her schedule in 1999. In 2005, Monique began offering services for cats and their owners as well. With a strong background in humane and practical solutions based in good communication and a mutual understanding between pet and owner, she feels strongly that no single behavior problem is an "isolated" event, and every pet deserves to be addressed as a whole individual rather than an unwanted behavior.

Aside from her duties as a technician, manager, instructor and consultant, Monique enjoys presenting and lecturing at CE events, reading, singing, hiking and training her own dogs.

Sharing her home with 4 dogs, 3 cats, an African grey parrot and her wonderful husband, Monique enjoys competing with her own dogs in agility, stockdog events, obedience and RallyO.

 

Sherrie Yuschak, RVT, VTS (Behavior)

My behavior experience initiated from a desire to rectify my own dogs’ behavior problems 14 years ago. With help from a CAAB, a dog trainer and my veterinarian I learned firsthand how to desensitize, counter-condition, and train behaviors using positive reinforcement techniques. These methods achieved success for my dog which prompted me to abandon my traditional force-based ideology to begin a personal quest of education regarding the advantages of reinforcement training methods.

I was employed as an associate instructor for five years at a dog training center where I taught beginner to advanced students. Along the way, I studied many behavior books, attended numerous prominent behavior lectures including Purdue University’s DOGS! and Dogs and Cats course where my skills were strengthened and my philosophy solidified. I also travelled to the University of California, Davis for an internship within their animal behavior department.

At the small animal hospital where I was employed I researched, created, and instructed socialization and training classes for dogs and cats for five years. Additionally, I assisted two veterinarians with behavior consultations, performed behavior modification, pre-purchase counseling, problem prevention counseling, and educational services for clients.

I have been a long term member of The Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians and I am currently President Elect. I also Chair their Public Relations Committee and have served as the Sponsorship Coordinator of SVBT’s Continuous Education Conference for 2010 and 2011.

Earning my VTS in Behavior has been a long term goal since before the specialty was even finalized. I have planned and worked hard to achieve this status and consider it an honor to now be a member of the Academy of Veterinary Behavior Technicians. As I move forward with my career I intend to uphold the values of the Academy, the Society and contribute to the profession of Veterinary Technology with the common goal of strengthening the human-animal bond.