Dr. Cynthia Eaton is a 2001 graduate of North Carolina State University with degrees in Animal Science and Biological Sciences.  She went on to NCSU, College of Veterinary Medicine to obtain a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in 2005. After graduating, Dr. Eaton completed an equine internship in Kentucky and practiced mixed animal medicine for three years. Dr. Eaton joined the Spay Neuter Clinic in 2008, shortly after the clinic opened. In addition to being the chief surgeon, she has been involved with the growth and management of the clinic since 2008 and took over ownership of the clinic in 2014. Dr. Eaton is very dedicated to the clinic, the animals we serve and the importance of spaying and neutering to not just reduce overpopulation, but also improve the quality of life. When not working, Dr. Eaton enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, traveling and being outside. She has quite a collection of animals on her farm; including cats, horses, goats, ducks and turtles!  

Dr. Eaton has worked closely with multiple non-profit organizations to prepare and implement grants that allow for patients to receive surgeries at hugely reduced rates, well below the cost of surgery.  She feels strongly that the only solution to overpopulation is spaying and neutering and the way to reach the targeted animals is by reducing the cost to owners as much as needed, sometimes that means providing no-cost surgeries.  

“Providing high quality and affordable spay neuter surgeries is the most effective way of reducing overpopulation and reducing the euthanasia rates in shelters. I am proud to be part of the Spay Neuter Clinic and the incredible service that we offer to both pets and owners. For many animals this is their first opportunity for receiving veterinary care and gives us a chance to educate owners about responsible pet ownership.”  

Dr. Pellerito joined SNVC in May of 2022.  She was born and raised in Michigan and received a bachelor’s of science from the University of Findlay in Ohio. She went on to attend veterinary school at Iowa State University and graduated in 2021. She worked at a mixed animal practice in Michigan for 10 months before relocating to NC for the warmer weather and to switch from private practice to non-profit work.  Dr. Pellerito has a special interest in surgery, preventative care and is Fear-Free Shelter Certified. She has two dogs, Fern, a chocolate lab and Clover, an “Ohio stray special.”  When not working, Dr. Pellerito enjoys cooking/baking, rock climbing, training her dogs, hiking, doing hot yoga and going to the beach.  She feels that the work that SNVC does is a huge support to the community in terms of reducing pet overpopulation and providing preventative care to pets whose owners may not otherwise be able to afford these services. 

Kari joined SNVC in 2018.  She is a Veterinary Assistant and is our lead cat lady.  Although she loves dogs, her love for cats cannot be matched.  Kari’s compassion and tender heart ensures that she provides the highest quality care to each pet she works with.  We are so lucky to have her helping to lead the technical staff and are so proud of the amazing, skilled veterinary assistant she has grown into over the last three plus years.  Please give some love to Kari! 

 “I work at SNVC because I truly believe in the cause of reducing animal overpopulation and reducing the number of precious babies euthanized at shelters every day. But I stay because we are really like a family and everyone treats every animal like they were their own.” 

Angie has been part of SNVC since 2019. She attended the Animal Behavioral College to obtain a certificate as a veterinary assistant in 2018. Angie’s dedication and love for all animals is clear to everyone who works with her.  She is a sponge for knowledge and has learned so much over the last four years. We are so grateful that Angie is one of our technical leads as she is a confident, qualified and amazing veterinary assistant. We have even been able to convert Angie to “cat person” over the last year.  She is now not just an amazing mom to not only her human child, but also to her many cat children! 

“I am passionate about veterinary medicine because we are directly making an impact on the quality of the animal’s lives, helping with overpopulation and we can be the voice that the animals don’t have.” 

Annie finished her veterinary technician coursework in the spring of 2023 and joined SNVC in May. She was born and raised in Fayetteville and has two pets- a cat named Monkey and a chihuahua named Taz. Annie’s hobbies include drawing and listening to podcasts, audiobooks and music. Annie is excited to gain the clinical hours necessary to become a licensed veterinarian technician and is interested in going to veterinary school in the future. Annie loves working in veterinary medicine as it allows her to provide care and comfort to the most innocent living beings. 

Rupert started working at SNVC in 2020 but has worked with Dr. Eaton on her farm for over 10 years. Rupert is hard working, positive and keeps everyone in a good mood! Rupert’s main job at SNVC is to handing all of our instruments. He cleans them, sterilizes them and makes up surgical packs. Since we do 40-60 surgeries per day, we would be lost without Rupert and the attention, time and care that he takes to make sure that we have sterilized instruments every day. 

Melanie joined SNVC in 2021.  Melanie is our office manager and she helps coordinate chart preparation, appointments, entering medical records and administrative work.  She is also out in the morning checking in patients.  Melanie is originally from Germany and moved to the states in 2011 as a military spouse.  She lives with her husband and her daughter along with two dog, Cujo and Precious, and three cats, Benjamin, Franklin & Mittens.  Melanie has been volunteering at a local rescue since 2017.  She enjoys crafting, embroidery and anything she can do with her Cricut.  Melanie loves to see the shelter animals that come every week to complete their final step to adoption and seeing them finally go to their forever homes.  “We are really like a big family here at the clinic and I love to see how everyone treats our patients with so much love, care and patience.” 

Andrea joined the SNVC family in 2020. Andrea has been critical in maintaining our financial assistance program and coordinating with the many non-profits we work with.  With our move to Fayetteville in January, the number of non-profits we serve has skyrocketed, which just shows how much we are needed in this area.  Andrea is not only dedicated to the teams and animals we serve, but also to helping to build the programs that lets us offer such reduced cost surgeries.  

Ms. Claire has volunteered in every aspect of the clinic, from helping with patient recovery, administrative help and jumping in wherever is needed since shortly after the clinic opened in 2008.  Since 2020, she stepped in to help SNVC on a full time basis and has been an invaluable part of the team since.  She knows every area of the practice by heart and is willing to help wherever the need is.  She can rock charts, as well as prepare animals for surgery and recover them.  I think her favorite task though is taking the nervous small pets and cuddling them the whole day, or perhaps letting them visit with her in her office in the pet stroller.  We would be lost without Ms. Claire and are so thankful every day that she is here to help! 

Lisa joined SNVC in the fall of 2022. Lisa answers phone calls, schedules appointments, takes payments, prepares medical records and makes calls to other veterinary clinics to obtain necessary medical records. Lisa is originally from Canada but has lived all over the world including in Saudi Arabia where she worked as a respiratory therapist and met her husband. Prior to moving to NC, Lisa lived in Lexington, KY where she managed a small spay/neuter clinic through a local humane society. Lisa has two adult children, a daughter and a son, and currently resides with her husband and their 7 cats. Outside of work, Lisa enjoys going to the beach and beachcomb, swimming, gardening, baking, hanging out with her cats. She and her husband also like to scuba dive and travel. 

“This is the best environment I have ever worked in, including human medicine. I know that the services 

we provide here at SNVC are of the highest quality and help the community. I am inspired every single 

day to do better, reach higher and learn more.”