Dr. Stacia Jung, DVM

Dr. Stacia Jung, DVM Dr. Jung moved to St. Croix in 2004 with a passion for putting an end to pet overpopulation enhanced by her prior work experience at the ASPCA, The Humane Society of New York, and Bide-A-Wee animal shelters.

She was employed as Associate Veterinarian at Island Animal Clinic from November 2004-November 2006. After that, she created an onsite Low-Cost Spay/Neuter program in December 2006 at the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center and successfully spayed/neutered close to 3,000 animals in less than two years, operating twice weekly. Eventually, Dr. Jung took on the position of part-time Staff Veterinarian and part-time Executive Director at the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center November 2007 through October 2008.

Inspired by her previous veterinary work, love for animals, and passion for the community of St. Croix, Dr. Jung opened Sugar Mill Veterinary Center in December 2008. The Center encompasses her vision for combining a holistic approach to pet wellness in a state of the art and environmentally friendly facility. The Inn at Sugar Mill, St. Croix's only stand only pet boarding facility, was opened in May of 2009 and has provided a comfortable, clean, and safe place for dogs and cats to vacation while their owners are traveling off island. The Sunshine Foundation, a nonprofit, low-cost spay/neuter program, ran for two years out of the Sugar Mill and sucessfully spayed/neutered 1500 animals.

Dr. Jung lives with her 5 indoor cats (Tang, Annabell, Oscar, Pearl, & Sinbad), her 2 dogs (Kaija and Farley) and her family of outdoor feral cats (Muffin, Snuffin, Big Daddy, and Batman) in North Grapetree Bay and loves every minute of island life! Her cat Emmit and two dogs Agnes and Lester reside at the SMVC and assist her at work each day!

Dr. Tom House, DVM
Associate Veterinarian

Dr. Tom House, DVM Dr. House received his D.V.M in 1988 from Texas A&M University. He currently lives and works in Corpus Christi, Texas where he has been Staff Veterinarian for The City of Corpus Christi since 2007. Dr. House keeps a very busy schedule performing multiple surgeries, vaccinations, and treating sick and injured animals throughout the day. Dr. House is experienced with large animals and will be offering equine veterinary services while on island as well as small animal care at SMVC. Prior to moving to Corpus Christi, Dr. House owned and successfully managed his own practice in San Marcos, Texas for 17 years. 

After getting married on St. Croix in 2008, Dr. House and his wife Jessica decided their goal was to make St. Croix their home. Dr. House received his license to practice in the U.S.V.I in 2009 and fills in for SMVC as requested. In Dr. House's spare time, he enjoys sailing and snorkeling. We hope to see Dr. House on St. Croix full-time very soon! 

Sylvia Ward-Hanley
Veterinary Technician

Sylvia Ward-Hanley is a native of Nevis, WI, but has lived in St. Croix since she was eighteen years old. She has extensive experience having worked as a Veterinary Technician for over 30 years! With an AA Degree in Early Childhood Education she spent two years as a preschool teacher, while continuing her work as a Veterinary Technician. 

One of her hobbies is to give tours to young children at Sugar Mill Veterinary Center. She gets the chance to show them the day to day function at the hospital. In addition, she teaches them how to take care of their pets. Young children love to learn about animals, so the tours are mostly geared towards teaching them how to show empathy and sympathy towards all animals. We at Sugar Mill believe that one solution to ending the violence towards animals is humane education.  We believe that children who learn to have empathy for animals will also have empathy towards humans. We adults must strive to teach empathy to our children so that we can structure a moral foundation. Hillary Clinton made an old African proverb famous, “It takes a village to raise a child,” Therefore, the SMVC team want to do their part to raise children well.

Research has shown that there is strong correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence. Therefore, Sylvia uses her Early Childhood Education training in teaching positive interactions towards animals in young children.

Annibel Aaron
Veterinary Assistant

Annibel Aaron was born and raised on St. Croix. She spent some time with family in Tennessee for work. At that time, she began working in stocking shelves at a factory that made health care products, and later in Walmart overnight stocking. Annibel returned to St. Croix where she found a job that had more meaning to her. She worked at the Animal Shelter for 7 years as a Kennel Technician, Surgery Assistant and Exam Technician

She has been focusing on thet Inn at Sugar Mill, where she cleans up after, feeds, exercises and bathes all of the boarding guests. She is great with animals and they truly enjoy her company. Annibel also tends to the goats, Matilda and Noodles, who appreciate all the work that she does for them. She spends any open time (when there are less boarders) assisting on the hospital side.

Annibel has an identical twin sister, younger sister, and brother in Tennessee. She spends a lot of time with her 2 nephews and enjoys playing video games with them. She has 4 dogs (Troccoly, Analia, Lizzy & Pipi Chepine) and a cat named Frisky.

Ruth Ann
Groomer

Ruth Annmoved from Central California to St. Croix in January of 2009 with her husband, who had always dreamed of living here.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA where Ruth Ann first learned to groom dogs. She was born with a passion for animals and art; grooming dogs is the perfect fit for this artist! 

At 13 years old, Ruth Ann got her first dog and it was then she learned how to brush, bathe and cut her nails. She worked as Grooming Manager/General Manager at a large chain pet shop, and also traveled around California as a Grooming Apprentice Instructor to train new groomers. Ruth Ann has been working as a professional groomer for over 25 years.

Mother of 3 sons and a daughter who are all grown up and all love animals. Ruth Ann's daughter and sister are also groomers. She lives with her husband who works for the Department of Education, and they both love the island.

 Idaliz Castro
Practice Manager

Idaliz "Liz" Castro was born in Puerto Rico and came to St Croix at the age of 1yr. She attended St.Josephs High School and has an Associates Degree in Small Business Management.
 
She is a fun-loving island girl who can often be found outside gardening.  She has a love for everything that grows and a green thumb. She also loves the beach. She has rescued animals from dogs and cats to deer, iguanas, ducks and birds.

Liz has worked with a few of the island veterinarians and has done volunteer work with Fish and Wildlife, The Sunshine Foundation and a few other organizations.

Clement Nation
Veterinary Assistant

Clement Nation spent most of his life in Dominica, and has been on St. Croix since 2009. On Dominica, he made a living doing agriculture work on his farm with goats, sheep, horses and cattle.

Clement started working for Sugar Mill Veterinary Center in the beginning through the Department of Labor, he is willing to help where ever needed and loves the work. The goats love him!

He is the father of nine children, five girls and four boys, with his loving wife. Several of his children live in the BVI's: four in Antigua, and three in Tortola.  Two still in Dominica,. He has always enjoyed working with animals. 

Solja Boy
Staff Security

Solja Boy was rescued from the streets of St. Croix by the Warden, Odey Constant, of the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center. He was in a state of severe starvation and dehydration after being abandoned by his family who moved off-island the year prior. He was skin and bones and could only lift his head.

He captured the heart of Dr. Jung, as the entire shelter staff worked hard to provide him with nursing care and rehabilitation therapy. 

Solja Boy was adopted my Dr. Jung to live at the Sugar Mill Veterinary Center. Slow and steady progress proved successful! He began by using a cart (wheelchair) for support, which allowed him to regain strength in his back legs. After careful thought and study about his painful elbow in his left front leg, the decision was made to amputate. Solja is now happy and pain free!

Solja Boy agreed to take the roll of 'Resident Guard Dog' and spends his days walking the Mills grounds. He runs up and down hills with ease and continues to amaze the Sugar Mill staff.

He is quite a soldier... & quite loved!

Matilda and Noodles
Landscaping

Matilda was found abandoned near the Sugar Mill Veterinary Center, was swooped up by Veterinary Technician Anna Loizeaux and brought to reside at SMVC. She loves the grounds and is very good at weeding out all the nuisance plants including Tan Tan!

Noodles was a rescue from the Agriculture department. They didn't want to see this sweet and friendly guy become dinner, so we adopted him as a friend for Matilda. He lets Matilda make all the calls, and tags along where ever she goes.

Matilda & Noodles spend their days working outside and love to come in before sunset to nap and get ready for the next day of work. Matilda and Solja hit it off from the start, and Noodles fit right in. They enjoy taking walks together over the grounds (until the goats find something to eat).