Dr. Sara Smith
Dr. Sara Smith is the owner and founder of Stepping Stone Animal Hospital. She graduated from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014. Dr. Smith grew up in central Massachusetts on a small hobby farm with all different species of animals and that is where her love for animals and taking care of them was born. Dr. Smith values the intense human-animal bond that people share with their pets and works hard to nurture that bond. She enjoys educating new and seasoned pet owners about nutrition options, preventative medicine, behavior and surgical or medical treatment plans that help pets live their best lives. Dr. Smith enjoys living in Gardner, KS with her husband, Christian and their three children. When not helping pets, she enjoys being outside playing with her kids or running along the Gardner Greenway. Dr. Smith loves seeing her pet patients and their owners outside of the clinic and is one of the reasons she loves Gardner so much! If you see Dr. Smith out for a run around town, stop her and say hi! She probably needs a breather… and a chat is a good excuse to take a quick break!
Sherri
Sherri and her family have been an active part of the Gardner Community for close to 40 years. Sherri and her husband, Mike have raised there now grown children in Gardner. Active in school, community and especially 4-H, the country life has always been home. Sherri’s passion for animals has been a major part of her life for as long as she can remember. Her dog Hank and horse Pete are top of the list. If you see Sherri trail riding or just walking her dog in town stop and say Hi. We would love the company!
Nikkie
Nicole has been an RVT since 2012. She started her career as an extern at Blue Pearl before graduation and went on to work there for 5 years. Her love for animals has taken her from Specialty medicine to shelter medicine to privatce practice. She has a love for teaching and training veterinary nurses and nurse assistants. When she’s not spoiling her patients and laughing with her clients and coworkers, she is usually running her two boys to football practice or reading. She has two rescue pit bulls, Bullet and Bluebell and a 10-week-old kitten, Special Agent Jack Bauer. It’s a house full of boys and she’s loving every minute of it.
Hanna
Hanna is a Gardner native. She obtained a few degrees from Johnson County Community College before finding her love and passion for animals. Fairly new to the veterinarian world, she is eager to learn and grow her skills in animal care. In her free time, you can find her exploring trails with her dog, snuggling with her cat, or doing countless art projects. Hanna always has an interesting story to share about her life with her dog, Margo. If you ask her favorite dog breed, she’ll probably say any large dog (Great Dane)!
Cheri
Chen has been working in veterinary medicine for almost 5 years. She brings experience trom her 14+ years In human medicine where she used her NRCMA and CNAlicenses to work in many fields to include geriatric care, orthopedic, urology, phlebotomy, family practice, and some emergency care. Cheri chose to change paths to animal medicine because she enjoys a challenge and likes to think outside the box to provide each patient with the appropriate care. Her compassion inspired her to work with wildlife rehabilitation and closely with shelters as well as rescue groups. Outside of work Cheri is a single mom to a teenage daughter Rylee. She also has a boxer mix named later lot, and three cats (Ophelia, Sparrow, and Louis).