Meet Our Team

Dr. Laura Wade is a board-certified bird specialist by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) and completed a residency with avian and exotic pets. She provides comprehensive primary and referral healthcare with medical, surgical, and behavioral services for your companion bird, small mammal, and reptile.

Dr. Wade lives in a suburb of Buffalo, New York with her two Meyer's parrots, 'Kelly' and 'Pepper' (in photo) and Cape parrot 'Zuri.' She also owns 'Roscoe,' a terrier mix!

Dr. Wade's Resume

Dr. Strobel worked for Dr. Wade for several years as a licensed veterinary technician before going to the University of Tennessee to pursue becoming a DVM as well as Veterinary Public Health specialist. She came back to Buffalo because she missed the snow and her family. She is available here at SCAEP Tuesdays, and Thursdays to help out one of her passions, rabbits! When she is not working, she enjoys cooking, the ocean, reading, and hanging out with her rabbits, cats, and dog. 

A Buffalo native, Dr. Reed graduated from Cornell University in 2011 and joined our staff July 1st of the same year. During his veterinary training, Dr. Reed gained extensive experience working with exotic pets and wildlife. Dr. Reed has a special interest in fish and amphibian medicine.

Dr. Reed is currently only available by appointment. Outside of veterinary practice, Dr. Reed enjoys hiking, camping, fishing and gardening, among other pursuits. Photo shows Dr. Reed and his Tiger salamander, 'Groovy.'

Dr. Hess was born and raised in Buffalo. He attended the University of Illinois for vet school and went on afterward to complete a specialty internship in exotic animal emergency medicine and surgery in Seattle. During his training he worked with privately owned exotic pets, as well as several zoos and aquariums. 

After his time out west he elected to move back home to offer emergency care to both small animal and exotic patients. Dr. Hess can treat all types of exotic patients, but has a special interest in reptiles/amphibians and fish. He is currently available for appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Outside of veterinary medicine Dr. Hess prefers to spend his time hiking, gardening, riding his motorcycle, or spending time with his own small zoo at home with his wife (pictured here with his Sulcata Tortoise, Frank.)

Dr. Harris was born and raised in the Western New York area. She earned her DVM from Cornell University where she spent time at several different zoos and aquariums pursuing her interest in exotic and zoo animal medicine.  After graduation, she returned home to briefly work in private practice before going to complete a residency at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

When her residency ended, Dr. Harris returned home to start a family and re-entered private practice.  While she still enjoys working with dogs and cats, her most recent professional experience has had somewhat limited work with exotic species.  She is excited to get back to her original calling – treating exotic animals!

In her spare time, Dr. Harris enjoys spending time with her family, baking and cooking, all manner of arts and crafts, and dancing.

Jenna first began working at SCAEP in May of 2013 after receiving her Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology. She has a passion for exotic pets and currently owns six rabbits, two crested geckos, and two rescue dogs! 

When she isn't working at SCAEP, Jenna's love and care for animals extends to her own pet sitting business. In her free time, she loves writing, traveling, and going to concerts!

Emily joined the team in October 2022. She has been a Licensed Veterinary Technician since 2016. Emily loves working with all animals and is particularly interested in avian medicine. She currently shares her life with a feisty Quaker parrot and three cats.

Gretchen is very excited to be working at SCAEP! Coming from primarily the feline/canine side of veterinary medicine, Gretchen started as an assistant in 2011 and has been a licensed veterinary technician since 2019. She loved working with cats and dogs, but has always had a passion for exotic animals. She has experience with small mammals and reptiles, and is excited to continue learning more! Gretchen loves spending time with her husband, their daughter, and various pets. She currently has a one-eared baby angel cat named Nessi, a big grey doofus cat named Felix, and a uromastyx, John Cena! In her spare time, Gretchen loves taking barre classes (she co-owns Pure Barre Buffalo!), doing puzzles, watching movies, and taking long weekend trips with her family to different zoos! 

Jessica joined SCAEP in Fall 2020. She received her Associates in Veterinary Technology in the spring of 2020 and is currently finishing her Bachelor’s in Biology with a minor in pre-veterinary medicine. 

Jessica grew up with a brother who had several exotic animals, from geckos to ball pythons and has been interested in exotics ever since. In her spare time, she interns with Dr. Bernadette Cleabeaux who is the director of WNY Raptor and Wildlife. Through this, she has become interested in wildlife as well. Jessica is currently waiting to get into veterinary school and hopes to specialize in exotics and wildlife.

Jess has been a vet tech since 2019 with starting her career in shelter medicine, and then moving into private practice with small dogs and cat. Dogs are her favorite to work with and she has one of my own. With having an interest in exotics, she's branched into owning 2 lizards. One Gargoyle Gecko named Chaos and the other is a Crest Gecko named Zen. As a hobby, she likes to create finger nail art that she has been doing since 2020. Summer is her favorite season to do all the outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, boating, and fishing! 

A Clarence native, Stephen received his degree in Animal Sciences at NCCC in 2019. Prior to joining SCAEP in 2020, he worked in various capacities at the Buffalo Zoo, the Niagara Falls Primate Sanctuary, the Aquarium of Niagara, an area exotic pet store and an emergency veterinary hospital. He is very proud to have helped design and build the Reptarium in Detroit, Michigan. Stephen has anumber of reptiles and amphibians as pets as well as prairie dogs and a blue and gold macaw. Outside of work, he enjoys ice hockey and 3D printing. 

From New York City, Nicole is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at the University at Buffalo, studying Biological Sciences. She is very excited to be a new addition to the team at Specialized Care for Avian & Exotic Pets and begin her experience in the exotic field. Previously a Veterinary Assistant at a dog & cat hospital, Nicole is looking forward to pursuing her interest in exotic pets and learning more about them. In her free time, you can find Nicole spending quality time with her two dogs and three cats, cooking, exploring nature and traveling! Her current goal is to attend Veterinary School and find new research opportunities in the animal field with a focus on wildlife conservation.

Destiny has always had a passion for animals, especially the exotic ones! Destiny comes to us from the retail pet care industry and is excited to get into Vet Med! She has a red eared slider, a Russian tortoise, a ball python, and two leopard geckos! In her free time she likes to read, go on hikes, and spend quality time with her reptiles!

Eli is very excited to join the world of Vet Med! He has a very strong passion for exotic animals and can’t wait to share that with others. He has tarantulas, snakes, geckos, and cats. In his free time he enjoys hiking, drawing, pinning bugs, and spending time with his animal family!

Sam has a BFA in Animation from Villa Maria College. She has worked in vet med as a receptionist since 2019, but is excited to expand into the world of exotics due to her love of the feathered and scaled family members as well! She has dogs, skinny pigs, ball pythons, a tenrec and a Jackson's chameleon currently. In her spare time, she enjoys playing video games and drawing all different types of critters.

Adrienne brings extensive experience working with cats and dogs, and she has always been especially passionate about exotic animals. She volunteers with Messinger Woods and Ten Lives Club, where she dedicates her time to caring for wildlife and cats in need.

At home, she lives with three cats, a tree frog, and a free-range bunny named Juniper, who is warmly accepted by his feline siblings.

In her spare time, Adrienne enjoys playing video games, crafting, collecting movie and TV memorabilia, fishing, and spending time outdoors.

Christine joined the Specialized Care team in March 2026.  Previously she worked for Greater Buffalo Veterinary Emergency Clinic for 17 years. She has always had a love for exotic animals (especially frogs & toads)  As a child she would catch them in the ditch or around the homestead.  She was able to keep them for part of the day but her mom used to say, 'let them go so they can go back to their family.'  Today Christine shares her home with her son, Justin, a rescued Chihuahua Mix named Calvin, A buff colored cat named Levi, Kali is their Senegal Parrot,  4 tarantulas, 6 exotic toads, a leopard gecko named Leroy and an Asian Forest Scorpion.  She also is the co-owner of  4 Argentine horned frogs (aka Pac-man frogs).