Our Team

Crystal is a native Upper West Side resident with a passion for helping animals. When she was four years old, the movie “Free Willy” instilled an interest in marine biology and animal welfare.  As a child, she would spend time with horses at the Claremont Riding Academy taking horseback riding lessons and developing her life-long passion for animals. She is currently enrolled in the Veterinary Technology program at LaGuardia Community College, working towards her A.A.S. in Veterinary technology. In her spare time, she enjoys landscape photography and being an activist for the animal conservation groups- “The Whale Sanctuary Project” and the “Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund”- all while spending time with her family including her fashionable dog, Missy.

Anchor Veterinary Surgery is an advanced mobile surgery service that travels throughout the greater NYC area, performing board-certified surgeries at primary care veterinary hospitals. Anchor’s mission is to enhance the local veterinary community by providing exceptional surgical outcomes and acting as a trusted resource for cutting-edge, practical, and compassionate surgical expertise. By collaborating directly with your pet’s regular veterinarian, Anchor offers pet owners a more convenient, more available, and more affordable option for advanced surgical care than having the same procedure performed at a referral hospital.  

Dr. Tony Kahn & Dr. Farrah Horowitz first worked together as interns at the Animal  Medical Center. Following this, they each went on to become surgical leaders at multi-specialty hospitals throughout the Northeast. Both surgeons have more than 15 years of experience and perform all types of surgery, including orthopedic, soft tissue, and oncologic procedures.  

For more information, including doctor bios, visit www.anchorveterinarysurgery.com.

Lori has always had a love for animals and was fortunate enough to stumble upon the veterinary industry quite by accident at a very young age. More than thirty years later, having worked for various veterinary pharmaceutical companies, she has acquired a vast product knowledge along with outstanding customer service experience.

Lori lives on Long Island with her family.

Lori considers it both an honor and a privilege to join the BVC team.

Jennifer always wanted to work with animals. One of her earliest memories is visiting the Bronx Zoo and declaring to her mother “I want to be an animal nurse!” Today, that dream has come full circle. Jennifer began her veterinary healthcare journey working as an assistant at Bond Animal Hospital in 1996 in her hometown of White Plains, NY. During her years at Bond, she earned her BA at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. Soon after graduation, she realized that veterinary nursing was her true calling, thus forgoing veterinary school and pursuing her license as a veterinary technician.  “As a veterinary nurse, I am allowed a closer relationship with my patients and can act as their advocate. The bonds I have developed with my patients and their owners throughout the years is immeasurable and pushes me to be a better person and a better tech.” Shortly after starting at Animal General in 2006, she graduated with her associate’s in Veterinary Technology from Cedar Valley College and passed her state boards, earning her NYS veterinary technician license. Her years at Animal General were formative, and under Dr. Paul Howell’s leadership and Karen Heidgerd’s mentorship, she honed her nursing skills and found a special calling in veterinary dentistry. Being part of the development of Brilliant Veterinary Care has been particularly empowering for her and has reignited her passion. She is thrilled and honored to be part of an all-women-owned private practice. “This is an opportunity for me to continue to grow as a tech while providing my patients the individualized care they deserve.” Jennifer hopes to become certified in veterinary practice management and pain management, furthering her drive for patient advocacy. She currently lives in Yonkers, NY with her husband, daughter, 3 cats, turtle, and Coco the cockatoo.

Dr. Jasmine Duperval found her calling working with animals at a young age. Since 2011 she has built up an array of experience within various areas of veterinary medicine- including wildlife, horses, pocket pets, cats, and dogs. She grew up on Long Island, and earned her B.S. in Health Science from Hofstra University. She spent a few years working as a veterinary assistant before leaving the country to attend St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grenada. She spent her clinical year at the University of Georgia. After graduating she returned to Long Island and spent a year at West Hills Animal Hospital & 24hr Veterinary Center going through a small animal rotating internship. She is excited to continue building her career back home in New York. After spending years away from home to become a veterinarian, she is happy to be back spending quality time with family and friends. She has a fur baby named Daisy, a 10-year-old toy poodle. Outside of work, yoga and reading are her other loves.

Dr. Bishop, originally from western Pennsylvania, graduated from Penn State University with a BS in Animal Sciences, followed by a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. After graduating from veterinary school, Dr. Bishop completed a year-long rotating internship at Pieper Memorial Veterinary Hospital in Connecticut. He has since been practicing in Manhattan and seeks to provide the best quality of care for his patients. Dr. Bishop enjoys building trusting and lasting relationships with his patients and clients in the general practice setting. In addition, he has particular interests in emergency medicine, soft tissue surgery, and neurology.

Outside of work, Dr. Bishop enjoys life in New York City, experiencing the restaurants, museums, parks, and shows our great city has to offer. He enjoys travel and sampling new wines. For years, Dr. Bishop has been involved in mental health advocacy programs, previously working with non-profit organizations to promote discussion on mental health topics and encourage help-seeking behaviors. 

He currently has one orange tabby cat, Chuck, rescued from the streets of Philadelphia.

At a young age, Maureen fell in love with animals and dreamed of being a veterinarian. While enrolled at Queens College, pursuing her pre-vet requirements, she began work at a private veterinary clinic and soon realized her true calling- veterinary nursing. Technicians are the voices for their patients and the time, effort and diligence it takes to care for animals is something Maureen decided to devote her life to. Soon after graduating from Queens College, Maureen went on to work for Northshore Animal League, where she developed an affinity for rescue and adoption. During her 6 years at NSAL, Maureen witnessed firsthand how many dogs and cats, especially those with special needs, needed homes. She soon became a foster mom to many cats with unique medical conditions who would otherwise be euthanized. Her home became a sanctuary for various one-eyed, three-legged and neurologic kitties, and remains so today. Following her time at NSAL, Maureen spent 3 years working for the ASPCA stationary spay and neuter facility before starting at Animal General. It was here that she discovered the best of both worlds- rescue and private practice. During her 9 years at Animal General, and with the support of Karen Heidgerd who shares the same passion for rescue, Maureen was able to build a robust adoption program, finding homes for hundreds of cats, while at the same time, developing and honing her nursing skills. She finds herself fortunate to have spent the last several years practicing exceptional medicine while forging deep and lasting bonds with clients through her rescue program. She looks forward to developing new rewarding relationships with the clients at BVC and to rebuilding her adoption program within our doors. Maureen currently lives in Queens with a menagerie of her own special needs cats who include Jaws, Cheddar Bob and Gumby, just to name a few.

Dr. Bayazit, originally from Canada, grew up in Fairfield County, CT. She earned her BS at Mount Holyoke College and DVM at Michigan State University. After completing a post-graduate internship year at VREC in Norwalk, CT, she moved to the Upper West Side and started practicing full time at Animal General with Dr. Paul Howell and Karen Heidgerd. Dr. Bayazit moved back to CT with her husband and 2 children, where she continued to practice full time at Poster Animal Hospital. Dr. Bayazit currently enjoys her hobby farm in Westport, CT, where she has 3 dogs, 2 mini cows, 11 chickens, and countless honeybees. Dr. Bayazit is USDA accredited and is a member of the AVMA, NYSVMS, and CVMA.

“I have always loved the energy and strong sense of community in the Upper West Side. Starting Brilliant Veterinary Care with Karen and Nicole has brought my career full circle.”

The foundation of Karen’s lifelong career in veterinary medicine is her compassionate love of animals. This passion has found new expression in “Brilliant Veterinary Care”.

Her previous 25 years were spent serving the Upper West Side community, as practice administrator for Animal General. Under her leadership, Animal General grew to become one of the most popular and beloved veterinary hospitals on the Upper West Side.

Through Animal General, with the support of Dr. Paul Howell, Karen established many beneficial programs. She developed “Protected Pets”, a program designed to aid the pets of victims of domestic violence, “Tenth Life for NYC cats”, a community endeavor to rescue pets slated for euthanasia at the NYC shelter, and “Senior Foster”, a program that placed senior cats with senior citizens providing food and medical care as needed.

Karen helped people as well as pets. Animal General worked with the NYCAHRC Hire program and employed many learning-disabled adults, giving them full-time jobs and purpose. These charitable programs were in addition to the delivery of gold-standard veterinary care for all clients.

Karen is also the co-founder of two charitable organizations that care for urban wildlife: the “Wild Bird Fund” and “City Pigeon Rehabilitation”. She lives with her family in Westchester with rescued dogs, cats, and a handful of birds. “I am excited to continue to bring compassionate and inclusive veterinary care to the Upper West Side where one size does not fit all.”

• co-founding the non-profit “City Pigeon Rehabilitation”
• funding, designing, and building aviaries for an upstate NY non-profit (Berkshire Bird Paradise)
• instrumental in opening the “Wild Bird Fund” in its current location on Columbus Ave

She lives on the Upper West Side with two cats and a rotating flock of rescued birds.

Ms. Holcombe has always recognized the varied and still expanding uses of this life-saving diagnostic medium. In 2008 her attention was drawn to Veterinary medicine. Of recent, she became a member of the International Veterinary Ultrasound Society. She specializes in small animal abdominal ultrasounds but has scanned the occasional snake and alligator. “There are always new and exciting applications to this dynamic branch of radiology,” says Holcombe.

Barbara lives in Yonkers, New York, with her husband Robert (our porter extraordinaire!), a houseful of cats, dogs, and her African Grey Parrot, Jim

Thank you, Barbara, for your tender loving care.

Robert lives in Yonkers, NY, with his wife Barbara (our TLC coordinator), many cats, dogs, and birds.