5-Star Google Reviews
“The entire staff is amazing. They are all so caring and compassionate. Dr. E and Dr. H are top notch vets. They will treat your pet like their own. I highly recommend this practice to anyone who loves their pets. You will not be disappointed.”
Steve
Dr. Jaime Elia, DVM
Owner | Chief of Staff
A native of New Jersey, Dr. Elia grew up in Tenafly and currently resides in Hampton NJ. Dr. Elia received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in 2000, her graduate degree from Cornell University in 2002, and her DVM degree from Ross University in January 2006, attending University of Minnesota for clinical rotations. After graduating from veterinary school, Dr. Elia practiced at Pomona Animal Hospital in New York. In 2007 she began working at Cresskill Animal Hospital where she ascended to Chief of Staff through December 2015. In January 2016 she became owner of The Animal Hospital of Roxbury. Dr. Elia has been practicing for almost 18 years and loves seeing puppies and kittens grow up with their families.
Dr. Elia’s medical interests include animal behavior, internal medicine, and working together with her clients to provide a long lasting, healthy, and enjoyable human-pet relationships. She believes that healthy weight dogs and cats who get regular exercise can live longer happier lives. She frequently recommends extra exercise and interactive toys and treats to help pets keep weight off and their minds stay fit.
While attending University of Minnesota for clinical rotations, Dr. Elia met her husband Brent. Brent is a mechanical engineer but you will frequently see him helping out around the facility. Together they have 2 daughters, Taylor, 10, and Sydney, 7. They both would love to be Veterinarians and Engineers when they grow up – go figure! The girls enjoy weekly horseback riding lessons with their mom. The family currently has 4 horses/ponies at their home and Rocket the pony is teaching more little kids to become great riders! Azlan and ponies, Hotdog, Taco, and Ruby reside at the family home in Hampton. Sadly Brackett passed away this past year and his older sister Coho now resides at the family property in upstate NY where they were born. Dr. Elia and the girls still enjoy competing at local horse shows on the weekends. In her spare time, Dr. Elia enjoys camping and hiking. She also likes to spend time with her friends, family, and many pets as well as cooking and gardening. On weekends off, Dr. Elia enjoys spending time at her family farm in upstate New York.
In addition to the horses and ponies, the family zoo includes: Rumor a Doberman and Lager a Boxer who are both two. In the past year these two have gotten skunked, eaten many things they shouldn’t have, and chased off more wildlife than the family can count! On the plus side, they also learned to swim in the pool and fetch tennis balls. Dr. Elia hopes one day they will be well behaved dogs but for now they are still wild puppies! The foursome of domestic long-haired cats still rule the house – Steely Dan, Snoop, Bowie, and Floyd and keep the puppies in line. This past year the family lost their beloved Kazi the Maltese who lived an amazing 17 years!
The family misses Farley and Alibi terribly but the antics of Rumor and Lager certainly have helped ease the pain of their losses. They will always grace the walls of AHR as part of our logo and remain in our hearts forever.
Dr. Shanna Hickenbottom, DVM
Veterinarian
A native of Warren County New Jersey, Dr. Hickenbottom completed her bachelor of science degree in Biology at Bethany College in Bethany, WV in 2007. She went on to obtain her DVM degree at The Ohio State University in 2011 (Go Bucks!). After graduation, she practiced small animal medicine in rural Ohio for 4 years before starting as the staff veterinarian at the Humane Society of Parkersburg. She has since moved back home to be closer to family in the summer of 2019.
Dr. Hickenbottom’s medical interests include shelter medicine, small animal medicine and surgery, behavior, client communication, and rabbit medicine. She enjoys working with local area rescues, TNR (trap-neuter-release) programs, and Fix-it programs.
Dr. Hickenbottom spends most of her free time with her family. She and her husband, Dustin, have an active school age son, Colton, and their pets. They have 2 dogs: Maggie, a Golden Retriever and Pippi, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They also have 2 cats, Doc and Gatsby. Most of her pets were acquired through her work at the shelter. They like doing lots of outdoor activities together such as camping, biking, hiking, and enjoying the beautiful scenery northern New Jersey has to offer. When she is home, you can frequently find her reading, gardening, having family game nights, or teaching her dogs new tricks. She is an advocate and supporter for Autism research and support.
Dr. Laura Balogh, DVM
Veterinarian
Dr. Laura’s fondness of animals originated like many vets, when she was a little girl. She completed her pre-veterinary requirements and received a Bachelors in Philosophy at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. She then worked as a veterinary assistant for 2 years in Bernardsville, NJ, before embarking on her veterinary degree across the pond. She received her doctorate from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK. She then returned to her hometown of Madison, NJ where she joined a large general practice and received an incredibly rigorous, yet helpful education to start her career.
She then spent some time in North Carolina, with her husband, Pete, and worked for a few house call practices, which she really enjoyed. She returned to NJ in August 2021, and joined the team at AHR in October 2022 after the birth of her second son. Dr. Laura is passionate about clear communication with her clients and helping people’s pets live their best, most comfortable lives. She has a soft spot for senior animals and loves educating clients about pain management.
When she’s not working at AHR, Dr. Laura is home with her 2 sons, Henry and Charlie, and loves to sing, dance and play outside with them as much as possible.
Brittany
Hospital Manager, Certified Veterinary Technician
Brittany’s love for animals started at a young age when she volunteered at local animal shelters. Later she got her first job at an animal hospital as a kennel worker, receptionist, and veterinary assistant. Brittany then got her veterinary technology degree from Bergen Community College. She has since worked with small and large animals, and exotics. At home she has 2 dogs – Hemi and Stanley, a cat – Diesel and a bird. When not at work Brittany enjoys spending time with her daughter.
Jacki
Assistant Hospital Manager, Veterinary Technician
After 12 years in the creative design field, Jacki needed a change. She always had a love for animals, volunteering at various rescues in her free time. She joined the AHR team in 2016 as a kennel attendant and has worked her way up to a veterinary technician position. She’s currently finishing up school to become a certified veterinary technician and has obtained a certification in dog training. She has one dog, one cat, and one human child. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and traveling.
Jennifer
Receptionist
Jennifer joined our team as a receptionist in 2022 after a long career in the construction industry. She loves all animals but particularly adores large breed dogs, especially her German Shepherd, Hercules. Outside of work,
her 3 sons keep her very busy. She is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys gardening, camping, astronomy and football.
Alicia
Receptionist
Alicia has been a receptionist with us since 2023. Growing up on a farm, she has worked with animals her entire life. Currently, her fur family includes 5 dogs, 1 cat, 1 guinea pig, 1 rabbit, and the love of her life, a pot belly pig named Danaka. She also has 2 human daughters, Dakota and Marcaila, who are her best friends. Prior to joining our team, she worked in the medical field as a Certified Nursing Assistant. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and photography.
Carla
Receptionist
Carla started working with the AHR team in May of 2023. She is new to working with animals, but enjoys working with people! She has two 9 year old Boxers named, Alma and Bernardo. In her spare time she enjoys spending quality time with her 1 year old daughter and husband, watching movies, and shopping.
Remi
Certified Veterinary Technician
Remi knew he wanted to be a vet tech when he was 9-years-old. He has always had a strong connection with animals and is a proud crazy cat guy. He graduated from Bergen Community College in 2013 with a degree in Veterinary Technology. After graduating, he worked with dogs, cats, exotics, birds, and wildlife for 6 years. He joined the AHR team in 2019.
Remi is passionate about mental health and his volunteer work involves handwriting letters of hope and support to people worldwide struggling with mental illness. In his spare time, he enjoys a wide variety of creative pursuits including drawing, crocheting, and woodcarving. He is also a bookworm and a casual gamer. He resides in Parsippany with his purrfect cat children.
Alison
Veterinary Technician
Alison recently moved to Lake Hopatcong and joined the AHR team in August of 2021 as a veterinary technician.
Prior to that, she has been in the veterinary field for 11 years and loves what she does. She has a huge passion for feline patients and a big heart for senior dogs. She recently adopted her senior dog, Mac and also has 3 cats.
Bill
Veterinary Technician
Bill started in veterinary medicine as a technician assistant 25 years ago. He joined the AHR team as a veterinary technician in 2022. Bill can’t remember a time when he didn’t love animals. As a kid he would take in orphaned or injured wildlife and nurse them back to health. Since then, Bill has developed a soft spot for turtles. In fact, at his residence in Pennsylvannia, his backyard is dedicated to rehabilitating them. Bill also cares for his two dachshunds, Dixie and Cali and two cats, Whip and Owen. When Bill isn’t helping animals, he enjoys gardening and growing his own produce.
Teresa
Veterinary Assistant
Teresa has been a veterinary assistant at The Animal Hospital of Roxbury since 2020. She’s been working with animals since 2017 and grew up with dogs and small pets. This is what started her love for animal nursing. She previously worked in the kennel and reception at other facilities and enjoys to pet sit for clients and neighbors. Since becoming an assistant at AHR, her love for animals has grown even more. She has a 2 year old son named Orlando whom she loves very much and hopes to raise a fellow animal lover! She also has Paige, a 7 year old English Bulldog – her all time favorite dog breed!
Jenn
Veterinary Assistant
After graduating with her associates degree in photography, Jenn knew she wanted to do something different. She took a veterinary assistant course and fell in love with the field. Jenn has been a veterinary assistant at AHR since 2021. She is becoming more and more passionate about the veterinary medicine field and caring for your furry friends. She is currently attending classes to become a certified veterinary technician. She has 2 dogs, Copper and Jasper. In her spare time, she loves to read, hike, and spend time with her family and friends!
Michelle
Kennel Manager
Michele’s love for animals started with volunteering for a rescue organization in a small town in Costa Rica. She fostered several dogs and over 20 cats during her time there. Michele made her way back to New Jersey in 2019 and has been with AHR ever since. She has 2 mixed breed dogs, Sky and Bella, and a cat named Weebles.
Melissa
Kennel Attendant
Melissa’s love for animals started when she was a little girl growing up. She always knew that she wanted to work with animals, being an advocate for them and helping them in their time of need, but didn’t know where to start. She finally took the step and earned her certificate as an Animal Control Officer in June 2023. Now she is eagerly looking to get more involved with the community and attempting to gain as much experience working with animals as possible. She is currently training to work as a volunteer with the Morris County Animal Response Team, which is an organization that goes out during natural disasters to help both humans and their pets. In Melissa’s spare time , she loves spending time with her family and her fur child Odin, who is an English Black Labrador.