Higgins - Meet the Team

Arielle took over as practice manager when our previous practice manager, Adele, retired after 29 years. 

Arielle is a Chicago native and she really enjoys working with pets. She is always a joyful presence at our front desk and spoils all our patients with attention as soon as they come in.

She also loves the Cubbies, puppies and tacos and has a stunning shoe collection.

Arielle's joy and care for our patients, clients and the whole staff is amazing.  She is a fantastic leader for our team and hospital!

Enrique has been living in Chicago for over 30 years and started working at Higgins Animal Clinic as soon as he arrived. He finds taking care of pets to be an amazing and  rewarding career and couldn't imagine doing anything else. 

He also enjoys the varied culture and music festivals Chicago has to offer and loves going out to experience them with his wife and daughter. 

We all depend on Enrique's surgical expertise and phlebotomy skills and consider ourselves lucky to have him as a long term member of the team

Tricia was born and raised in New York where she always had lots of pets 'follow her home'. She moved to Florida when she was 20 years old and worked at many places before realizing her love of animals could be a job. She then started working for the SPCA where she 'fostered' two puppies for life, named Scout and Atticus.

In 2014, Tricia moved to Chicago with her boyfriend Todd and their furbabies. She then started working at Higgins and has been here ever since. Recently, our staff convinced her to take home a cat named Criminal to be buddies with her cat, Anubis. They are now good pals!

Tricia's adept skill at keeping track of everything that is going on is amazing, we appreciate her so much!

Lucretia grew up in a tiny town on the central coast of California and moved to Chicago in 2019 to attend Columbia College for creative writing. Lulu has been involved in the veterinary customer service field for over six years, working both in-clinic and through telemedicine. After starting a role in client care at the San Francisco SPCA in 2016, Lulu discovered the joy and value of animal welfare--advocating for their rights and supporting those who care for them. 

Lulu shares her apartment with her eccentrically sweet cat Sid and enjoys writing poetry, discovering new music, and cycling (even in the winter!). 

Antonia moved from Guerrero, Mexico to Chicago when she was 16. She has been at Higgins for over 20 years and also works at PAWS Animal Shelter. She love to learn and finds working with animals very gratifying.

She has a little boy named Liam and a very spoiled dog named Mia. She loves playing basketball, going to the gym and spending time with her family.

Antonia's is extremely good at what she does and we consider ourselves lucky to have her at our hospital!

Josh was born and raised in Chicago. He is currently going to school to pursue what he loves to do, which is working with animals.

He is a big Cubs fan and also loves to walk by the lake and take in the sights downtown.

Josh has a big heart, loves to learn and works hard to make sure our patients and clients are well taken care of. He goes out of his way to help everyone everyday and we value having such a fantastic person on our team!

Melissa has worked in many modes of the veterinary field including shelter medicine, emergency and day wellness clinics. She shares her life with a wee orange kitty named Little Orange, who is completely spoiled.

I hope over the years I have been able to give care, comfort and compassion to each animal when they crossed my path and needed it most. It's great to be part of the Higgins staff that focuses so much on kindness to their clients and pets.'

She spends her spare time watching foreign films of all genres, caring for her own furry mob, writing and studying Buddhism.

Melissa profoundly loves every pet that comes through our doors. We count on the attentive care she gives patients and clients more than we can say.

John was born in Chicago and has been working with animals since 2011. He decided to become more involved in a veterinary hospital setting in early 2019 where he quickly discovered his passion.

John has been a veterinary assistant since early 2020. Prior to that, he managed a canine daycare and boarding facility in Ravenswood for 3 years. He's also worked as a volunteer with Tree House Humane Society and as a volunteer driver for Rescue Me Clifford shelter.

He lives with his wife, Samantha, and their crazy cat, Jasper and a senior golden retriever named Heidi. John is a movie aficionado, his vast knowledge of films is astounding!

We are very proud to have John on our team, his conscientious care and ability to  do whatever he can to help animals and his co-workers is admirable and limitless.

Sandy graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from Northeastern Illinois University and is currently enrolled with Purdue Veterinary Medicine University
for his Veterinary Technician Certificate.
Sandy has been in the field for close to 7 years with a broad history of general practice and emergency medicine and has completely fallen in love with the veterinary field.  He especially enjoys communicating to pet owners and doctors and finds it's an excellent excuse to meet and pet so many animals!

His hobbies include loving his little dog Chico (a 12-year-old Miniature Pincher), listening to a broad range of music, and binge-watching tons of shows on Netflix. Sandy says that “Without a doubt, I always ask myself in tough times 'What Would Vin Diesel Do' or WWVDD!” 

We thoroughly enjoy having Sandy on the Higgins team. His love and care for our patients shines through every day and his cheerful disposition is a pleasure for staff and clients alike!

Bree grew up in the northwest Indiana suburbs where her love for animals grew with her. Once deciding it would become a career path, she started working as a kennel attendant in high school & continued into college until graduating from Fox Colleges Veterinary Technician program to pursue a closer practice to the medical aspects of the field. Since then, she has worked in mixed species practices, day practices, and ER clinics all around the Chicago land area and Florida, where she lived for 2 years, until deciding that Chicago was a permanent place to call home. 

Here she lives with her partner and their Corgi named Violet. In her free time, she likes to venture around the city, spend time with friends & enjoy Lincoln Park.