Dr. Brandy Doggett
Veterinarian / Owner
Dr. Doggett has been the owner of Striegel Animal Hospital since October of 2014. Her journey to Carbondale has been a long one. She was brought up in a Navy family and knew that military service was in her future from a very young age. She joined the Navy after graduating from high school, and soon began her first career as an Aviation Electronics technician. After 9 years she knew it was time to pursue her other dream, Veterinary Medicine. After being honorably discharged from the Navy she moved to Knoxville Tennessee to help her family, and begin her long and rewarding journey into Veterinary Medicine. For Dr. Doggett, this was just another way she could live a life of service, while at the same time living her dream.
As of now, her local family consists of 4 dogs, 5 cats, and 2 goats. She plans to add some chickens to the clan soon! She was able to accomplish her dream of having an underwater treadmill at Striegel Animal Hospital and being able to offer physical rehabilitation for her patients. She loves helping her patients, and the pets of the community, by providing the highest quality of care for pets with mobility issues such as those recovering from surgery (especially back surgery or orthopedic surgery), needing weight loss, and older pets that are suffering from arthritis. By giving back to the pets, she feels that she is in some small way, returning the unconditional love that they give to all of us.
Dr. Nicole Cressey
Veterinarian
Dr. Cressey has been practicing veterinary medicine for nearly a decade. Her career has been varied ranging from being a swine only veterinarian to working in mixed animal practices in Southern Illinois and Wyoming. Dr. Cressey’s last practice was AAHA accredited like Striegel Animal Hospital where she cared for mainly dogs and cats with a handful of exotic and large animal patients.
One of Dr. Cressey’s favorite parts of veterinary medicine is preventative care. She enjoys creating lifelong wellness plans that include vaccinations, nutrition, dental health, and monitoring of your pet’s wellbeing. She also enjoys the bonds created between herself, clients, and their pets when getting to care for them over the course of several years. She has a soft spot for large breed dogs (the St. Bernard especially) and pigs but is willing and able to see a variety of creatures.
Dr. Cressey and her husband reside in southern Illinois with their two dogs and two children. Their hope is to be able to build on family farmland and create a small self-sustaining farm with hogs and cattle to pass along to their children.
Carla D
Practice Manager
Carla graduated from Western Governors University in 2017 with a Bachelors degree in Business Management. While her career before coming to Striegel was mainly focused in IT Management, she is excited to put her business management degree to use serving Carbondale and the surrounding communities as part of the amazing team at Striegel.
In Carla’s spare time she enjoys spending time with her wife doing home improvement projects, building furniture, listening to audio books and seeing movies at the theater. Carla shares her home with multiple cats and dogs of all shapes and sizes, but she will always have soft spot for any dog that is a pit mix.
Debbie M
Office Manager / Records Review
Debbie is the Office Manager at Striegel Animal Hospital. She previously worked at DuQuoin Vet Clinic for Dr. Bates, working with large and small animals. Debbie came to Striegel March of 1996 as a receptionist and in 2014 she became the Office Manager.
In Debbie’s spare time she loves to work on her 1980’s RV, going out on the lake, going on jeep runs, hanging out by the pool, traveling to FL with her friends and family and reading. Her family consists of her husband Charlie, dog Mercedes, turtle “Turtle Man”, and 4 cats: Baby Kitty, Cuddles, Leo & Teddy.
Madyson R
Veterinary Receptionist / Striegel Cats Bio Writer
Madyson is a Southern Illinois native and lifelong animal lover. She has been involved in animal welfare as a volunteer transporter and shelter worker since 2013. She joined the team at Striegel as a receptionist in November of 2017. When not greeting clients and their pets at Striegel, Madyson loves the outdoors, crafting, and spending time with her partner Evan, their dog Rembrandt and 3 cats, O’Malley, Turner and Rudy.
Cheyenne B
Veterinary Receptionist
Cheyenne is a Southern Illinois native, raised in Makanda. She joined the Striegel team in April 2021 as a Veterinary Receptionist. She studied Zoology at Southern Illinois University for two years, and plans to go back to school to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician.
Cheyenne grew up with a wide array of pets, including dogs, horses, guinea pigs, and hamsters. Cheyenne loves to craft, tend to her plants, and spend time with her family. Cheyenne currently lives in Herrin with her fiancé, Andy, her stepson, Jonas, her bunny, Bear and a hamster named Nutmeg.
Ford
Official Face Licker
Ford is our official face licker and Debbie’s personal butt warmer. Rarely seen outside of the chair she so graciously shares with Debbie-mom, she can sometimes be seen and heard begging to be lasered. If you’ve ever needed convincing that laser therapy works, just ask Ford, who has bilateral hip dysplasia. Our oldest feline resident, she doesn’t let her age or condition slow her down one bit- as evidenced by the times she gets the “zoomies” and runs the length of the building in a wild tizzy. Besides enjoying laser therapy and licking faces, Ford also loves chewing on paper, and is string cheese and cat nip obsessed!
Beetlejuice
Scaredy Cat
Beetlejuice is our resident 3-legged scaredy cat. He was brought to us by a client as a stray she had found in a very sad condition. He clearly had a very rough start to life and so is rightfully extra cautious. Beetle however LOVES CATS and so has been coming out of his shell with the help of his best friend, “emotional support animal,” and sometimes Striegel resident, Banshee. You may see him stalking the halls around lunch time or watching the birds from his lobby tower, avoiding most people at all cost. He’s just a shy guy so don’t take it personally 😉
Walnut
Trouble Maker
Walnut knows no boundaries when it comes to food. He’s even been known to steal employees’ whole lunches. A former IAMS food tester he was likely fired for being too indiscriminate. If you want to see Walnut just rustle a treat bag or drop a single kibble on the floor and he will come running. He has volunteered as one half of our “clean-up crew” and so can usually be seen waiting outside of exam rooms to take care of any leftover peanut butter or cat food. Or sometimes even in exam rooms inspecting the garbage for any edibles. Ornery but lovable, that’s our Walnut.
Palmer
Gentleman of Leisure
Palmer is the other half of our “clean-up crew.” Though a more distinguished mooch than Walnut, Palmer is also highly food motivated and has been known to tip a trashcan or two. He is a gentle soul who keeps to himself most of the time except for when on the job, which he takes very seriously. He and Walnut often act as unofficial paper weights on the lab counter. Palmer enjoys the finer things in life, like head scratches, belly rubs, cat nip, and sleeping in oversized dog beds. He is a true senior gentleman.
Pistachio
Trouble Maker in Training
Pistachio joined our team in early June of 2021. Under the guidance of his “nut brother” Walnut, Pistachio has shown great interest in food of all kinds. He is a member of Beetle’s “emotional support team” and the two can often be found wrestling in the front lobby, or napping together in one of the window perches. When not playing with Beetlejuice, Pistachio enjoys terrorizing Ford, and the rest of the front desk staff, by relocating their pens and highlighters. He may be a trouble-maker in training, but Pistachio is also very loving and thoroughly enjoys pets and attention.
Michelle R
Certified Veterinary Technician / Personnel Manager
Michelle graduated in 2001 from Murray State University with a bachelor in science. She went on to gain her certification as a veterinary technician and began her career in the field as an emergency vet tech in Louisville, KY. In 2003 she and her husband Eric, moved to southern Illinois where Michelle continued work as a technician, joining the Striegel team from 2009-2011. In 2009 Michelle began pursuing a nursing degree from John A. Logan college and went to work as an LPN from 2011-2015. Although this new career path was a wonderful experience, Michelle never stopped missing working with animals, and in 2015 when the opportunity to rejoin the Striegel team arose, she jumped on it! In her free time Michelle enjoys spending time with her family: husband Eric, kids Helen and Lucas, and furred family members Penny the golden retriever, and kitties, Luna, and Marshmellow.
Betsy W
Certified Veterinary Technician
Betsy graduated from the Vet Tech Institute of Indianapolis in December of 2009. Having a deep love for animals, Betsy worked as an animal caretaker and also as a veterinary assistant at two different facilities in the area while attending school.
After graduating, she moved to southern Illinois with husband Matt, so that he could attend SIU for forestry. From there Betsy became a Certified Veterinary Technician and has been at Striegel Animal Hospital since April of 2010. Betsy and Matt fell in love with southern Illinois and so bought a house in Cobden and are enjoying country living. When not working, Betsy loves spending time outside and with friends going to music festivals, hiking, camping and canoeing. She also enjoys sewing and spending time with husband Matt, puggle Willis, and kitty Junebug.
Tiana D.
Certified Veterinary Technician / Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner
Tiana is currently working towards her Zoology degree at SIU. She worked under a board certified veterinary behaviorist for three years prior to moving to Carbondale. She specializes in companion animal behavior and works maintain the human animal bond. Her favorite animal is the giraffe and she hopes to continue research in behavior ecology in the future. When she is not working or at school, she spends her free time helping her daughter with homework and to improve her tennis techniques. GO TERRIERS!
Brianna D
Certified Veterinary Technician
Brianna joined the team at Striegel Animal Hospital in November 2020. She went to school at Rend Lake College to pursue her Veterinary Technician degree. She interned at Striegel during her 2017 school year. She enjoyed her time at Striegel so much that she returned as soon as she had the chance! Brianna shares her home with her husband Aaron, her four loving cats, Weasley, Jasper, Ellie, and Milo and rescue dog Shadow!
In her downtime, Brianna loves playing video games and going camping. She loves spending time with her husband and fur babies.
Ali H
Veterinary Assistant
Ali joined the team at Striegel Animal Hospital in April 2021. She was born and raised in Southern Illinois and has continued her education here as well. She is working toward an associate degree in Animal Science at John. A Logan. Ali previously worked at Creekside Veterinary Clinic as a kennel technician and is now the head kennel technician for our hospital. She has been caring for animals since she was a toddler bringing home stray cats and dogs. Her love for animals came from owning a variety of them growing up such as dogs, cats, hamsters, a guinea pig, birds, fish, and bunnies.
When Ali is not working, she likes to spend time with her fiancé. She also enjoys being outdoors, going on walks, and playing fetch with her two dogs, Ace and Auzzie (pictured).
Ashley J
Veterinary Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Summer A
Veterinary Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Lyndsey W
Veterinary Assistant
Bio coming soon!
Carolyn S
Kennel Lead
Bio coming soon!
Isabella K
Kennel Assistant
Isabella joined the team in October of 2020. Before coming to Striegel, she worked for 2 years at a doggy daycare and boarding facility in Peoria, where she’s from. She also spent some time volunteering at her local animal shelter and shadowing her vet. Isabella is currently attending SIU to pursue a degree in pre-veterinary animal science.
In her spare time she likes to paint, play the piano, and spend time with her many pets. Isabella has a large pack consisting of her 3 dogs, Ava, Reese, and NOAA, 2 cats, Bean and Kiki, and rat Peter. Isabella loves all animals but has a soft spot for big dogs who think they are tiny.
Destiny S
Kennel Assistant
Bio coming soon!
