CbVMA EXECUTIVE

DR.  SARAH WILKINSON-EYTLE

PAST PRESIDENT

Dr Wilkinson-Eytle is the owner and Senior veterinarian of Phoenix VetCare, a small animal practice with two branches in Kingston and Mandeville Jamaica.

Dr Eytle graduated from the University of Guelph, Canada from where she obtained a BSc in Biological Sciences and a DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College.

She first returned to her native Guyana in 1984 where she worked as the sole veterinarian for Region 10 and Manager of the Surapana Agricultural and Allied Services Ltd.

She relocated to Jamaica in 1992 working first at the JSPCA then joining the then Phoenix Veterinary Clinic.

She has served in many capacities on the Executive of the Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA) most importantly as the longest serving Secretary and then President for 3 years. She also served as a member of the Jamaica Veterinary Board.  She is passionate about supporting and developing the veterinary industry and profession in Jamaica and the Caribbean. She was the President of the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association when the biennial conference was held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in 2010.

Married to Raymond Eytle, they have 2 Children: Kaiel and Tamaisha. 

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER

Dr. Nyoni Winchester is a Livestock Veterinarian currently working in academia as an Instructor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at St. George’s University (SGU), Grenada (2021). She enjoys teaching students clinical skills and lecturing in livestock production, reproduction and nutrition. She is involved Farmer’s outreach providing herd health management services to livestock farmers in Grenada.

Dr. Winchester obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree from the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (2015). She also obtained her Master’s in Veterinary Studies (MVS) degree from Massey University (2019). At present, she is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health (MPH), Global Health Track, at SGU.

In her early career, Dr. Winchester held the position Veterinary Officer within the Animal Health Unit of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) (2015). Subsequently, Dr. Winchester was appointed the Veterinary Scientist with the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and the Officer in charge of the Tobago Unit (2017).

Dr. Winchester recently completed the Climate Change and Health Fellowship (CCH) (2024) due to her determination to advocate the effects of climate change on animal and human health, livestock production and regional food security.

Dr. Winchester is a Veterinary Consultant actively involved in the research and development of sustainable agriculture practices for improving small ruminant production in the region.

Dr. Winchester is an Earthmedic Associate.

DR. LUDWIG PALACIO

PRESIDENT

Dr Ludwig Vidal Palacio ,.Dr Ludwig Vidal Palacio is a Belizean Veterinarian. He graduated from the University of Camaguey, Cuba in 1989. He has worked in the livestock improvement programs in rural indigenous communities in southern Belize. In 1993 he opened the first private veterinary clinic in Punta Gorda offering services in general medicine to pets and domestic animals. Palacio also does consultancy services in livestock policies and management. Palacio has served the profession in Belize for over three decades where he continues to operate the Toledo Veterinary Clinic. He is also a well-recognized writer and artist.

TREASURER

Dr Crooks, a former Director of the Human Capital Development Facilitation Company Limited, is a 2009 graduate of the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. He began working with the Tobago House of Assembly, Division of Food Production, Forestry and Fisheries (THA DFPFF) and volunteering at the Trinidad and Tobago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA) Tobago that same year, gaining experience in soft-tissue surgery, farm animal medicine, event planning and livestock judging among many other areas. Since that time, he was elected President of the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association (CbVMA) through November 2016, and Chairman of the TTSPCA Tobago to May 2017. Under his Chairmanship, the TTSPCA Tobago evolved to include an advanced Veterinary Clinic with three full-time veterinarians as of June 1st 2017, a pet supply store, and the capacity to execute a high-volume spay/neuter program annually. Meanwhile, under his presidency, the CbVMA was able to link with the World Veterinary Association to provide free continuing education for its members and ratify an updated constitution. In 2014, Dr Crooks joined the Caribbean One Health Leadership series, and was an active member of the Trinidad and Tobago One Health team, which worked to ascertain the risks posed to humans from the consumption of shark meat due to heavy metals. Dr Crooks founded the Tobago Animal Hospital in the year 2017 with a goal of providing the highest standards of care for all categories of animals on the island of Tobago. He continues to do regular television appearances and public lectures for farmers, students and colleagues and collaborates with students and veterinary professionals from all over the world. He is currently available at Tobago Animal Hospital as the Head Veterinary Practitioner, and through the THA DFPFF for regulatory and ambulatory farm animal work and is the President Elect of the Trinidad and Tobago Veterinary Association. His goal remains greater fraternity between the human, environmental and veterinary medical professions through the pursuit of the One Health ideal.

DR. VICTOR GONGORA

PAST PRESIDENT

Medicine and journalism has always been his passion. Gifted by God for excellence in academic studies, he received scholarships to pursue further study, with distinction.

In Belize and abroad (Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Scotland) it allowed him to rise from a poor student, in a family of 7 siblings and a widowed mother, to a veterinary professional with national and international expertise. He asks “how can I be proud of any achievement when it is by God’s grace that I am where I am””. His life, especially now as a retired public servant, is to serve, willingly and whole-heartedly, even where it requires stepping out of his comfort zone.  He volunteers in his country and abroad to further the cause of veterinary medicine for the greater good. He participates in charities, and runs a feeding programme for school children in his hometown of San Ignacio (Belize). He is also actively involved in transformational outreach to youths, encouraging and motivating them to rise and shine as our leaders of tomorrow.

To God be the glory.

CbVMA COORDINATOR

Dr. Paul Cadogan is a 1987 graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada working in private clinical practice, based in Clarendon,  with over 30 years experience covering multiple species from pets, through food-producing animals and horses to exotics, including marine mammals. He is a Local Veterinary Inspector for the Veterinary Services Division and has a certificate in Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) from the European Commission’s “Better Training for Safer Food” Programme (2013).

 He currently chairs the Board of Examiners of the Jamaica Veterinary Board and is the representative of the Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association to the Commonwealth Veterinary Association.

 He is an advocate for the practice of One Health and trained as a One Health Leader in the One Health One Caribbean One Love Project from 2014 to 2017.  He is co-chair of the Organizing Committee for the annual One Health Day Conference, a joint venture of the JVMA and the Caribbean College of Family Physicians Jamaica Chapter, to observe One Health Day each November since 2018. He has assisted with UWI graduate student research projects covering the zoonotic diseases Giardiasis, Ancylostomiasis, and Cryptosporidiosis. He is a member of the multidisciplinary group Doctors4ChangeJa.

DR. KATHY-ANN LEON

SECRETARY

Dr. Kathy-Ann Leon is a registered veterinarian in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. After graduating from the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine in 2016,  she worked at the school as a teaching assistant in Small Animal Medicine.  She returned to Jamaica in 2018 and currently does housecalls and relief veterinary services for pets of all kinds.