What's special about Liberty Animal Hospital?
Liberty Animal Hospital is a full-service veterinary hospital staffed by highly qualified and skilled professionals who are dedicated to providing excellent, compassionate patient care. We use the latest advances in diagnostics to make educated decisions regarding your pets' specific needs.
At Liberty Animal Hospital, we value compassion, self-motivation, excellence, integrity and respect. Client satisfaction and education along with staff personal and professional development are very important to us. Liberty Animal Hospital is committed to inspiring people individually to make a difference in their lives!
Learn a Little About Our Staff
Aris Atakem,
Dr Atakem was 1 of 2 to win a nation-wide contest in Chad for a scholarship to go to veterinary school. He graduated from the Inter-States School of Science and Veterinary Medicine in Dakar, Senegal in 2006. He moved to Colorado the same year and attended Kansas State University School of Veterinary Medicine from 2008 to 2010. He has worked in private practice since 2011 as an associate veterinarian, a mobile vet but also an emergency veterinarian in the Denver Metro Area and Littleton.
Dr Atakem founded Liberty Animal Hospital in 2016. He is a well-rounded veterinarian with a particular interest in Orthopedic and Soft Tissue surgeries, but also, Laparoscopic Surgery, Arthritis and Obesity.
Dr Atakem loves to build long-lasting relationships with people. He treats every pet he cares for as his own and is driven by the desire to contribute to human and animal well-being. Away from the hospital, he is a dance instructor and Martial artist. He also enjoys sports and most outdoors activities.
Audrey Herndon,
Born in a small town in Indiana, Dr. Herndon grew up all over the world including 4 U.S. states, Brazil, Germany and China. After graduating high school in Shanghai, she moved to Colorado to attend the University of
Colorado Boulder, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies in 2012. Dr. Herndon earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University in 2018. The driving force behind Dr. Herndon’s
career in general practice is her passion for helping others, engaging in her
community, and of course her love of animals! Her professional interests include preventative medicine, nutrition, dentistry, internal medicine, and end-of- life care. When not working, Dr. Herndon enjoys exploring the mountains with her wonderful husband and sweet Golden Retriever Paisley. She also enjoys riding her horse Piper, working outside in the garden, and
reading.
Nicole Peyton,
Nicole born and raised in Colorado. Her first job during high school, was a Veterinary Assistant. A year later, she decided since she enjoyed being around animals so much, that she wanted to make a career out of it and became a Veterinarian Technician. She continued to worked at the same place until she was 24 years old. While working she attended college, and after a lot of changed majors, she finally obtained a Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration. She grew out of being a Vet Tech and started her career in Healthcare. After college, she started as a full time Certified Nursing Assistant and part time phlebotomist. Then life changed when her beautiful daughter, Mia, was born in January 2013. A few months later she started to work at an Assisted Living that was expanding quickly and due to expansion, had the option to move to California to pursue her career/dream job as a Program Director, running a Memory Care facility. She enjoyed it, but after a few years realized, she rather just go to a memory care facility to be a volunteer, and help in her spare time. Now, she is here at, Liberty Animal Hospital to enjoy and love on all the animals, and she wouldn’t want it any other way!
Alysha Blanchard,
Alysha moved to Colorado at the end of last year from a small town in Rhode Island, where she learned her love for animals. She began showing and breeding Bullmastiffs with her family at the age of 8, having grown up with them since she was born. After high school, Alysha wanted to pursue her love for animals so she completed an associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology at the University of New Hampshire. The mountains on the East coast weren’t big enough so she had to come to the Rockies after college. Alysha enjoys skiing, hiking, and camping and fell in love with Colorado after taking a spring break trip to Steamboat with her boyfriend. When not working at Liberty, you can see her on the slopes, exploring the woods, or hanging out with her dog Tanner and cat Ollie.
Melissa Marusarz,
Melissa moved to Colorado in July of 2018 from a town near Chicago, IL. Her love for animals has been life long and she knew she wanted to work with them from a young age. After high school she decided to pursue her career at The Vet Tech Institute at Fox College, where she graduated from in 2015. After becoming a veterinary technician, she started her career in New Jersey where her and her best friend
Coco (goldendoodle) lived on an island and fell in love with the ocean while exploring the beach every day. Her favorite part of being a veterinary technician is being able to help animals feel comfortable while they are getting treatments to help them make a full recovery. When she isn’t working you can catch Melissa and Coco hiking, camping or snowboarding in the mountains!
Jasmine Wong,
Jasmine graduated from Colorado State University in 2006 as an animal science major with an emphasis in the equine industry and also acquired a minor in business management. During her college tenure, she did an internship with a ranch in Boulder, CO where she worked closely with the ranch manager learning the basic ins/outs of managing a ranch with about 100 horses. After graduating from CSU, she worked for nearly 6 years in the veterinary industry before joining Liberty Animal Hospital in late 2017. Jasmine grew up in Southern California where she fell in love with aquatic life. At the age of 9, she moved to Boulder, CO and soon thereafter fell in love with the mountains and wildlife, and loves to go hiking and camping whenever she can. She loves all animals in general and has grown up with many pets over time, such as fish, doves, horses, goats, chickens, llamas, ferrets, cats, and dogs, just to name a few. Jasmine loves all animals and loves making them feel better and taking care of them. She has been working with animals most of her life and is happy to be a part of great team here at Liberty Animal Hospital.
Krystal Young,
Krystal is a Colorado native. She has always had a love for animals, and in 2015, realized that she wanted to turn her passion into a career. She began attending Pima Medical Institute, where she became a Certified Veterinary Assistant. Krystal loves every aspect of her job but is especially interested in parasitology as well as sample analysis. In her free time Krystal enjoys excitement such as roller-coasters and skydiving but you may also find her vegging with her Yorkie Buddy, watching true crime, and spending time with family and friend.
Elisha Argo,
Elisha Argo is a certified veterinary technician with over 12 years of experience. Ms. Argo completed her pre-veterinary medicine and veterinary technician degree at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Elisha is certified with both the Tennessee dept of veterinary medicine and the Colorado Board of Veterinary medical examiners. Elisha also spent 4 years focusing on emergency and critical care for small animals in Memphis, Tn. She is a new transplant to Colorado from Tennessee and truly enjoys the animal care conscience attitude across Colorado.
Elisha has always been very passionate about all animal care and strives to treat all her patients as if they were her own pets. In her professional life Elisha enjoys orthopedic surgery as well as lab sample collection and analysis. On her free time, she enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, anything football (go Vikings). Most of all Elisha enjoys spending time with her family and her dog Aurora.
