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Board & Staff

Board Members

  • Nicole Van Den Bosch
    Nicole Van Den Bosch

    Board Member
    Fundraising

    Nicole grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, which is where she developed her love for animals. In her mid 20’s, she moved to Colorado & lived there for the next 14 years. She moved to the Show Low, Arizona area in 2015 & at that time started working as a realtor. Shortly after moving to the White Mountains she adopted her cat, "The Dude," from Pet Allies. She and her husband Tom later adopted their dog, "Bear". Nicole was a sponsor for the 2022 White Mountain Rubber Duck Pluck 2022 and later that year she & her husband started volunteering at the shelter by walking the dogs. Shortly after that she decided to join the Pet Allies Board of Directors to help make the lives better for the shelter pets.

  • Anne Blankenship
    Anne Blankenship

    Board Member
    Social Media Coordinator & Fundraising

    Anne worked for 23 years as a paralegal and then in 2006 started her own business as a personal chef. She loves to cook, especially for the Pet Allies shelter, and is always experimenting with different recipes. Having volunteered for many years during her life & a staunch animal advocate, when she retired in 2020, she wanted to help Pet Allies as much as possible. Anne started handling social media for the shelter in 2019, & became a Board member in 2020. She is from Dallas, Texas and spends the winter months there, with the rest of the year being spent in Lakeside, in the White Mountains, where she & her partner Kathy enjoy the weather & beautiful surroundings.

  • Meredith Maier Eckhardt
    Meredith Maier Eckhardt

    Board Member
    Bio forthcoming

  • Katy Hunt
    Katy Hunt

    Volunteer coordinator
    Katy Hunt, volunteer coordinator for Pet Allies, hails from San Diego, California. She is currently a Senior Quality & Research Analyst with PenChecks Trust and lives I Snowflake, AZ. While in San Diego, Katy worked with The Mother Goose Parade Association, Irish Congress of Souther California, American Cancer Society Relay for Life, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Frosted Faces (a senior pet rescue organization). She is the Community Action Team Chair at PenChecks Trust and has gotten approval for PenChecks Trust to be a sponsor for the annual Pet Allies fundraiser, the White Mountain Rubber Duck Pluck. Katy adopted "Howard" the cat from Pet Allies and says he is her big love!

  • Karen Harter
    Karen Harter

    Board Member
    Board Treasurer

    Karen grew up near Fort Wayne, Indiana, and worked at the local veterinarian's office while in high school. She has always had pets including cats, dogs, fish, and parakeets. While in college at Ball State University, she had an opportunity to intern at an architect's office in Phoenix, AZ. Once out of college, she moved to Phoenix where she lived for over 30 years. A major renovation project to the Show Low hospital brought her to the White Mountains area.

    While in Phoenix, she also became a real estate agent and eventually got into property management, which, 22 years later, she still does part-time. Karen began buying rental houses and used her architectural experience to remodel and upgrade those houses. She still owns rental houses in Phoenix and Lakeside.

    Karen started volunteering with Pet Allies after the rescue of the more than 120 hoarded cats in August, 2021. She was happy to help and even happier to see the transformation of the traumatized cats "coming out of their shells" to become the affectionate beings they were meant to be. Her helping with the cats gave her the chance to work side by side with Pet Allies' veterinary technicians and other volunteers. She was so impressed with the care and concern the technicians and volunteers showed toward the traumatized cats and decided this is the group with which she wanted to be involved.

    When not taking care of her two cats Henry and Chaz, Karen can be found working on small building projects around the house, tending her large garden, working on a puzzle, or taking long weekend sightseeing trips with friends.

  • Mary Jo Shauinger

    Photo and Bio forthcoming

  • Kathy Waldren
    Kathy Waldren

    Board Member
    Board Secretary

    Kathy was born and raised in California and moved to Arizona in 1964. She and her husband split their time between Show Low and Tucson after retiring from Tucson Unified School District after 30 years. They are proud parents of 1 son who lives in Show Low full time. Kathy volunteers at the shelter during the summer and enjoys every minute of it. They have adopted 3 dogs over the past 8 years, Dolly, Penny, and Hershey.

  • Jeannie Russo

    Photo & Bio forthcoming

Board Member Job Description


Staff Members

  • Jennifer Drew
    Jennifer Drew

    Spay/Neuter Clinic Manager

    Jennifer and her family, which includes 2 horses, 2 dogs, and a handful of barn cats, moved to the White Mountains in 2019. She was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been a veterinary nurse since 1991. Working in the veterinary field was a childhood dream and she has fulfilled that dream by working in general practices as well as emergency/critical care, and specialty practices.

    When not at Pet Allies leading the shelter staff in the care of homeless, stray, and owner-surrendered animals, her hobbies include horseback riding and wood working.

    Jennifer has also used her skills and talents to raise and assist in the training of several service dogs.

  • Debbie Collins-Rivera
    Debbie Collins-Rivera

    Lead Veterinary Technician

    Debbie hails from the fast paced Urban Jungle of the Bronx and entered veterinary medicine as a licensed Veterinary Technician in 1994. She excels in the areas of nursing care and surgical assistance and has worked in several animal hospitals while in New York. Debbie applied her skills to become a senior technician at a high volume, low-cost spay/neuter clinic.

    In 2004 Debbie relocated, with her family, to the White Mountains of Arizona. From the Jungle to the Country was a drastic transition for a city girl used to all a large city has to offer. The animals of the White Mountains have greatly benefited from Debbie's amazing animal handling skills, calm demeanor and professional attention to detail. Debbie began working with Pet Allies in 2007 as lead technician of the surgical team at the spay/neuter clinic. Her experience as a licensed Veterinary Technician will benefit thousands of animals, helping them live longer, healthier lives.

    Debbie shares her life with husband David, son Emmett and 3 kitties: Grizzle, Dusty and The Cheese. Some of Debbie's other interests include tattoos, body piercing and her ever growing Tarot card and Oracle card collection. The cards are in her favor....

  • Kathy Grabow
    Kathy Grabow

    Dental Technician

    Kathy grew up on a farm in a small town in Nebraska where she developed her love for animals large and small. In her younger years she rode hunter jumpers which is where her love of the Jack Russell began and started her name at Pet Allies " Jack Russell of all trades". Currently Kathy has 4 Jack Russell's,1 Golden Retriever, 2 Horses and 3 Feral Cats. In 2005 she and her husband bought property in the White Mountains where they enjoy riding their horses and exploring wildlife in the forest. Kathy has been associated with Pet Allies for 7 years in which she started volunteering at the clinic recovering animals after surgery and was then hired as a Recovery Technician. After a short time she was placed in the position of Surgery Technician and Dental Technician which is her current duties at Pet Allies. Pet Allies is fulfilling her passion for working with animals.

  • Christine Doyle
    Christine Doyle

    Our smiling & gracious clinic assistant.

  • Alice Hill
    Alice Hill

    Alice Hill
    Clinic Recovery Leader

  • Kaitlin ("Kat") Jerrain
    Kaitlin ("Kat") Jerrain

    Shelter Operations Manager
    "Kat" and her family recently located to the White Mountains of Arizona from San Diego. Over the past 7 years, she has had experience working in a boarding facility and running her own pet sitting business. She was thrilled when she found a position at Pet Allies, as she has always loved providing care and love to any and all animals as if they were her own pets.

  • Christina Elenes
    Christina Elenes

    Lead Animal Care Technician

    Christina (“Chris”) Elenes joined the Pet Allies staff in August 2022, after having recently moved to the Vernon, Arizona area from Norco, California. Chris previously worked at the Norco Animal Shelter in many capacities, starting as a volunteer at the age of 12. She was hired at the age of 15 as a kennel attendant/tech and eventually became an Animal Control Officer with them, where she was on call many times after hours. Chris has always wanted to live in a small town, so she was very happy to find that Pet Allies had a position open when she was looking to make a move. Chris has volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary and has worked with everything from horses, peacocks, birds, dogs, cats & more in her lifetime of helping animals. At one time, Chris fostered 30 kittens who were “bottle babies” in her home! Pet Allies is happy to have such an experienced & talented person working for the shelter.

  • Olivia Pichardo
    Olivia Pichardo

    Animal Care Technician
    This smiling face belongs to Olivia Pichardo, Animal Care Technician. Olivia was born & raised in New York City, primarily in the Spanish Harlem area, & started working with animals & pets as an intern her freshman year of high school. She has been fostering & volunteering with rescues ever since. Olivia moved to Phoenix in 2017 & visited Show Low that year as well, and fell in love with the area. She moved up the mountain in April, 2023. Before moving to Show Low and working at Pet Allies, she worked 2 jobs in the valley, one as a Data Specialist (working from home), & the other as a Brewer Apprentice and Cellarmaster for Phoenix Beer Company, where she was responsible for the cleanliness & quality of the canning line & productions. While she enjoyed learning about the brewery, she is now living her dream with her dream job at Pet Allies, where she enjoys looking after the quality care of the animals at the shelter.