Staff

DR. CRISTINA VALAS

Born in Madrid, Spain and lived there until the age of 11, when the whole family of 6 children moved to the United Kingdom. She was educated in a Catholic boarding school in England until at the age of 17, when the family made another move to the United States. 

At 17, she started her career at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY where she majored in Biology/premed and minored in Business Administration. In summer of 1988, she followed her now husband Rory to his native land, Massachusetts, and became a radiology technician at South Shore Veterinary Hospital in Weymouth until she started Veterinary School at Tufts in the Fall of 1989. She graduated from Tufts in 1993, worked at Slade Veterinary Hospital and Westboro Animal Hospital before starting The Family Pet Hospital in 1998. 

Married to Rory Valas, a franchisee law attorney in Boston, and is presently living in Ashland with her husband, her two daughters, Cassandra (17) and Natasha (12), her son, Justin (9), her 2 dogs, Hunter and Peluche, and two persian cats, George and Sadie.

KATHLEEN RAYBUCK

Kathy joined our staff in May 2009, as executive director. Kathy has been managing vet hospitals for over 12 years after teaching kindergarten for 15 years. She was born and raised in Akron, Ohio but moved to Greensboro, NC in 1985. She moved to New England in May 2007. She has one son, Joshua, who is a police officer in Greensboro. She now lives in Shrewsbury with her husband Drew, stepdaughters, Ashley and Allison and two dogs and a cat. You will always see Claire, her poodle mix, at the office with Kathy as our "official" greeter when you arrive. Kathy invites you to stop by and meet the staff and she looks forward to serving our clients in the fullest.

Carla is our most senior veterinary technician. She has been a member of our family since August 2007. Carla was born and raised in Massachusetts and has recently become a resident of Plainville. She lives with her husband Chris, her beatiful toddler daughter, Lillianna, her dogs, Pickles, a Boston Terrier and Trigger, a boxer, and one guinea pig, Doche! In her free time she enjoys game nights with friends, attending Bruins games and spending time with her family (both human and furry). Her love of animals helped her to reach her lifelong dream to become a veterinary technician. You can be sure that when Carla take care of a your pet that they will have the most dedicated care possible and the care you will ALWAYS get at The Family Pet Hospital!
  

Venus joined our staff in January 2010. She previously worked in the high tech industry for many years traveling across the United States and abroad before deciding to follow her heart into the veterinary field. She comes to our family from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine where she trained in large animal and then specialized in anesthesia. She is currently enrolled in Purdue University pursuing a veterinary technician degree.

She enjoys time on the beach with her husband Kevin and their husky mix, Kachina. On weekends you will most likely find her riding her American Saddlebred horse, Romeo; either joying trails in the woods or competing in hunter paces across New England. Be assured that when your pet is in her hands, they will be treated with great love and kindness.