Dianne Dawes DVM

Our senior clinician, Dr. Dianne Dawes, joined our practice in 1993. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where she obtained her DVM and M.S. degrees. She also has a Bachelors degree in biochemistry from Penn State University.
 
 While Dr. Dawes has worked in primary practices and has done a lot of relief work at veterinary clinics throughout the Lexington area, her heart has remained in emergency medicine throughout the years. She especially enjoys critical care/ICU and transfusion medicine. Dr. Dawes continually strives to keep abreast in the latest advances in emergency medicine.

In her free time Dianne and her husband, Pat, enjoy their new farm in Versailles, Kentucky. In addition to breeding and showing Hanoverian horses, they have a menagerie of other animals including several house and barn cats, 3 dogs and 2 ducks. Most of Dianne’s cats, dogs and even the ducks were special needs animals that came into our clinic needing a home. Several of her cats and dogs are or have been blood donors for our blood bank.

In 2004 Dr. Elaine Martinez joined our clinician team. She obtained her DVM degree in 2003 from Oklahoma State University. Prior to coming to Lexington, Dr. Martinez did research for the National Institute of Health in the areas of anesthesia and neurotoxicology. She also completed a small animal medicine and surgery internship at Texas A&M University.

Some areas of veterinary medicine that Dr. Martinez particularly enjoys are feline medicine, toxicology and oncology. She likes emergency medicine because of the variety of cases seen and the challenges it provides on a daily basis.
 
For Elaine her greatest joy in life are her kids, Elijah and Emmaleigh.  Being a mom and spending time with her husband, Dr. Ernest Martinez who is a large animal veterinarian, are Elaine's top priorities. When she is not working she also enjoys running, riding horses and spending time with her family and friends.  The Martinez family have 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks (Jax and Paisley, both of whom are blood donors) and 2 cats (Patches and Orion).

YunYong Coolong DVM

In April 2010, Dr. YunYong Coolong joined our clinician team.  In 1999 Dr. Coolong received her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology, from the University of Georgia.  She then went on to acquire her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine in 2003.

Prior to moving to Lexington, Dr. Coolong worked in both daytime and emergency/specialty practices in Georgia and Tennessee.  Although she enjoyed aspects of both types of veterinary practices, the unpredictability of emergency medicine is stimulating to her.  She loves the fast-paced environment an emergency clinic setting so she was excited about joining our team. 

When she is not at the hospital working, YunYong enjoys cooking, outdoor activities, staying fit and spending time with her husband, Dr. Timothy Coolong who works at the University of Kentucky and her two dogs, Molly and Zoe and one cat, Winston.

Allison Shepherd DVM

Dr. Allison Shepherd joined our clinician team in early 2010.  While in undergraduate school at the University of Kentucky, she worked at a Lexington area daytime veterinary clinic where she gained a lot of experience for her future career and then went on to received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine. 

Dr. Shepherd feels honored to be a part of the AA Small Animal Emergency Service team and is excited about her return to Lexington.  She has a special interest in surgery and emergency medicine for it allows her to think on her feet and always be on her toes.

Allison and husband Brice who is a grahpic design artist have one daughter, Josalyn, who is the love of their lives.  Allison loves to cook and enjoys all outdoor activities.  The Shepherd's have four dogs which include Taz (pictured) who is a terrier mix, Akira (a blood donor) who is a lab mix, Trinity a Dalmation, and Bella a lab-coonhound mix, who is also a blood donor.