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Small Animals Health Services Staff

Cynthia Binder, D.V.M.
Patrick Connolly, D.V.M.
Kenneth Coscarelli, D.V.M.
Sarah B. Gonda, D.V.M.
Todd J. Hughes, D.V.M.
Ronit Lavie, D.V.M.
Hilary A. Lookingbilll, D.V.M.
Bear L. Thompson, D.V.M.
Tobi J. Yoakum, D.V.M.

Cynthia Binder, D.V.M.

Dr. Cynthia Binder was born and raised in Northern California (Berkeley) and went to UC Davis as an undergraduate, majoring in Animal Science and minoring in Linguistics. She received her DVM from UC Davis Veterinary School in 1993. Dr. Binder has been practicing in Ventura County ever since, developing a special interest in emergency and critical care medical cases, and in the small furry companion animals (rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, etc.).
    Her husband, Mariano, teaches Spanish language and literature in various local community colleges.
    When not working at the hospital, Dr. Binder can usually be found working with her dogs and/or horses. She breeds, raises, trains, and competes her German Shepherd Dogs in Schutzhund (like police dog work), tracking, sheep herding, obedience, rally and occasional conformation events. Two of her dogs are Certified Therapy Dogs. In addition, Dr. Binder teaches a weekly obedience class for German Shepherds.
    Dr. Binder also has two horses that she bred, raised, and trained and now competes in open dressage shows, endurance rides, and an occasional Arabian show. She is also a volunteer member of the mounted patrol for the State and National Parks Service and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. In whatever time is left, she likes to give her cat quality lap time while relaxing by reading!


Patrick H. Connolly, D.V.M.

Dr. Connolly received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Denver and his DVM from Colorado State University.
     Dr. Connolly’s wife, Betsy, is also a veterinarian. In November 2008, Betsy was elected to the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board. She also teaches a course in horse care at Pierce Community College and a Zoology course at Moorpark Community College. Their daughter, Kate, recently graduated from University of Toronto, and son, James, is a freshman at Colorado State University majoring in mechanical engineering. The Connollys' pets include Kate's Max, a rambunctious chocolate lab, and cats Nuit and Cassie.
     Dr. Connolly’s hobbies include senior basketball, skiing, snorkeling and reading.


Kenneth Coscarelli, D.V.M.

Dr. Coscarelli enjoys small animal/exotics medicine. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from U.C. Davis and his Masters of Science in Veterinary Physiology (special interest in reproductive physiology) from Texas A & M University.
     He is married to Shelley and has 4 children, Noah, Amelia, Daniel and Victoria. The family menagerie includes 3 dogs, 3 cats, and assorted small "critters". Along with spending time with his family and pets he enjoys camping, his involvement with his church, the community and watching movies.


Sarah B. Gonda, D.V.M.

Dr. Gonda graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from UC Davis. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine also from University of California at Davis. Sarah has a special interest in Internal Medicine, Oncology and Surgery. Sarah's husband John is also a veterinarian. She is an avid traveler and scuba diver. Sarah and John have a son, Nate, and their pets include a retired racing greyhound, two cats, several tortoises and turtles.


Todd J. Hughes, D.V.M.

Dr. Hughes received his B.S. in Zoology and his D.V.M. from University of California at Davis.
    His wife, Stephanie is also a veterinarian. Their daughter, Hannah, is an aspiring veterinarian and son, Shane, has yet to decide what he wants to be when he grows up. The Hughes’ pets are “Dakota”, an Australian Shepherd and 2 cats, “Leo” and Yoshi” ..
    Dr. Hughes hobbies include kayaking, fishing and snowboarding.
    His professional interest is small animal and exotic medicine.


Ronit Lavie, D.V.M

Dr. Lavie is a native to the Los Angeles area and received her BS in Zoology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She went on to graduate school at California State University, Northridge focusing on Fish Parasitology. She culminated her education with a DVM from the University of California, Davis, emphasizing on Small Animal and Fish Medicine.
     In her spare time she enjoys traveling, architecture, synchronized figure skating and dance. Dr. Lavie’s pets are “Potato” her cat, and “Olive” the dog she adopted while in veterinary school.


Hilary A. Lookingbill, D.V.M.

Dr. Hilary Lookingbill was born and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania. From there, she went to college at Duke University in Durham, NC. She still loves watching Blue Devil's basketball. After college, she spent two years in Jacksonville, FL working in a laboratory researching Alzheimer's disease.
    At that point, she decided that she wanted to become a veterinarian, and that she wanted to move out West. So she moved to Colorado, where she completed her DVM at Colorado State University. While in Colorado, she also developed her passion for skiing, hiking, and all other things outdoors.
    She currently lives in Thousand Oaks, with her husband, Mark, their two dogs, Paco, a German Shepherd, and Kali, a mixed breed.


Bear L. Thompson, D.V.M.

Dr. Thompson was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He received his B.A. in Biology from University of Colorado, Boulder, and his D.V.M. from Colorado State University at Fort Collins.
    Dr. Thompson has been married since 1996 to Lynda, a visual effects producer for live action feature film.
    Together, Dr. Thompson and Lynda have 2 cats, “Boinque” a 12 year old long hair calico, who was rescued and adopted when she was 5 weeks old, and “Treque”, a cat adopted from our hospital after he’d been hit by a car and nursed back to health.
    ”Shady,” another rescue, was at another hospital, also after being hit by a car and having sustained a fractured leg. Ko’ele, a 4-year-old “Lab-Boxer Mix” was rescued as a puppy from South Central, L.A. shelters.
    Dr. Thompson’s hobbies include endurance cycling, scuba diving, acoustic steel string guitar and digital photography.
    His professional interests are general surgery, orthopedics, endoscopy, oncology, chemotherapy, and wildlife rehabilitation.
    As far as explaining his name, Bear, Dr. Thompson says that it is a nickname that he has had ever since he was very young and his favorite story was Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. His given name is Edward and Pooh’s real name is Edward Bear. So he got Bear added and he’s had to explain it ever since!


Tobi J. Yoakum, D.V.M.

Dr. Yoakum received her B.S. from U.C.L.A. and her D.V.M. from University of California at Davis. She completed an internship at the prestigious Animal Medical Center in New York.
     Dr. Yoakum is married to Marty, an optometrist, and they have a son named David and daughter, Sarah.
     Dr. Yoakum’s hobbies include scuba diving, wind surfing and tennis.
     Her professional interest in addition to general medicine is ophthalmology.

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