Patrick Melese DVM, MA, DACVB

Board Certified Veterinary Behavioral Specialist

Dr. Melese’s training includes a B.S. in Zoology and a Master’s degree from the Department of Zoology at the University of California, Davis in 1980 where his subjects were Animal Behavior and Neuroscience. Afterward, Dr. Melese worked with Professor Benjamin Hart, D.V.M., Ph.D. doing behavioral research and publishing several papers in physiological psychology at the U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He continued to work with Dr. Hart through veterinary school and assisted with the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Behavior Service until graduating in 1986.
Since receiving his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) from U.C. Davis in 1986, Dr. Melese has been active in the field of Clinical Animal Behavior.

Dr. Melese founded Veterinary Behavior Consultants, a veterinary referral and consulting practice limited to animal behavior problems, in 1988 and has also been a respected general practice veterinarian (medicine and surgery) for many years. In addition, Dr. Melese owned and operated the Tierrasanta Veterinary Hospital in San Diego for several years until it was sold to a general practitioner in 1999. For the first 15 years of his career, Dr. Melese was the only board-certified Veterinary Behaviorist in private practice based in Southern California. Dr. Patrick Melese moved to San Diego as a three-year-old child in 1960 and lives here with his wife and teenage son along with two dogs, three cats, and a horse.

Bill Herndon, DVM, DACVIM

Board Certified Veterinary Cardiologist

Dr. Herndon attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Central Arkansas obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology (major) and chemistry (minor). After graduating from veterinary school at Mississippi State University (2000) he completed his internship and cardiology residency training at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2003). A portion of his residency included working at Cardiopet VRC in Little Falls, NJ (2001). Early in his career, he performed clinical research focused on evaluating new blood testing for dogs and cats with cardiopulmonary disease.

For over a decade, Bill has enjoyed being a consultant at Veterinary Information Network (VIN). VIN is an online community of veterinary colleagues that interact in case consult chat rooms, obtain online CE, utilize a consolidated database of publications and continuing education meetings, read online books, and generally interact to solve problems of the world. In his new clinical role at California Pet Specialty, he is hopeful to spend more time on VIN.

Since moving to California from Washington DC over 10 years ago: Bill has given over 37 hours of continuing education to veterinarians in the region (excluding intern rounds) and examined over 2,400 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. He is board certified veterinary cardiologist and a member of the ACVIM, AVMA, CVMA and SDVMA.

Brook Niemiec, DVM, DAVDC

Board Certified Specialist Veterinary Dentistry

Dr. Niemiec is a 1994 graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Niemiec is a Board Certified Specialist in Veterinary Dentistry of both the American and European Veterinary Dental Colleges. In addition he is a Fellow in the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry. He is one of fewer than 10 veterinarians worldwide to hold all three of these certificates.

In addition, he is Past President of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry as well as the AVD representative to the World Small Animal Association. He is also the chair of the WSAVA dental guidelines committee which developed minimal standards for dentistry worldwide. Based on all these accomplishments, he is recognized as one of the leading authorities in veterinary dentistry. In addition to his advanced dental training, Dr. Niemiec received extensive post-graduate training in the field of anesthesia, which helps to ensure the safety of pets in our care. In order to assist other veterinarians in providing optimal dental care, Dr. Niemiec founded the premier veterinary dental telemedicine website: vetdentalrad.com. This service provides dental x-ray interpretation and offers instructional videos and educational posters.

Dr. Niemiec has had the pleasure of providing high quality dental care for the pets of Southern California since 1995 performing over 50,000 dental procedures. Although Dr. Niemiec is skilled in all aspects of veterinary dentistry, his special interests include endodontic therapy (root canals), periodontal therapy and surgery, dental radiology, and implant dentistry.

In his spare time, Dr. Niemiec is an enthusiastic outdoorsman who enjoys hiking, fishing, skiing, and camping. He also enjoys time on the beach with his Labrador Retriever, Sage.

Seth Wallack, DVM, DACVR

VICSD Founder & CEO
Board-Certified Veterinary Radiologist

Dr. Seth Wallack is an on-staff board-certified veterinary radiologist, founder and CEO of VICSD. His work in radioiodine (I-131) therapy for treating feline hyperthyroidism resulted in a new protocol for treatment dosing, and he lectures on this topic regularly at seminars and meetings around the country. He also started the AAVR, an online veterinary radiology education resource for veterinarians and veterinary technicians, and is the founder and president of Vetology.net, an online veterinary teleconsulting and image storage platform. Dr. Wallack currently has a patent pending on real-time ultrasound, a service where a licensed sonographer travels to the general practitioner’s hospital to perform the ultrasound and broadcasts the study over the internet to a board-certified specialist who reviews them in real-time.

Esther Adams, DVM

Registered Veterinary Medical Sonographer, VICSD

After completing a rotating internship in Northern CA, Esther worked at a specialty hospital as an emergency veterinarian. She moved to San Diego in 2016 and joined the imaging center as a DVM Sonographer. In her free time Esther enjoys exploring San Diego with her husband, son, and dog.