Meet our Team

Dr. Justin Harper, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVS-LA

Owner/Surgeon

A graduate of Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Harper completed an internship in Littleton, Colorado, and a surgical residency program at Auburn University in large animal surgery. After returning to the Texas Hill Country, Dr. Harper had the unique opportunity to undergo additional training for small animal surgery in South Texas under the direction of Dr. Andy Baker (small animal surgeon of 40 years), Dr. Don Hulse (Texas A&M University), and others. During this time, he realized the need for specialty surgical services to be offered to veterinarians and their clients. In addition to being board certified in large animal surgery, Dr. Harper began completing requirements for dual certification in small animal surgery but has put them on hold due to the demand for surgical services provided by Texas Specialty Veterinary Services. Dr. Harper has been the owner and head surgeon for Texas Specialty Veterinary Services (TSVS) for the past 11 years. TSVS provides in-house surgical procedures to over 100 veterinary practices for their pet owners, including TPLO, fracture repair, and other orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries.

Dr. Harper has a passion for surgery and serving veterinary clinics and their pet owners. Over the past 11 years, he has seen an increased need to further serve those pet owners at a brick-and-mortar location in addition to his mobile business.

Dr. Harper is originally from Edinburg, Tx but now resides in Boerne. He is happily married to his wife, Jodi, and they have two beautiful children. In Dr. Harper’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, traveling, and fishing!

Dr. Michelle Franklin, DVM, Limited to the Practice of Surgery

Associate Surgeon

Dr. Michelle Franklin is originally from New Mexico. She attended veterinary school at Colorado State University from 1994-1998. She began her veterinary career working in a mixed animal practice in New Mexico. Following her time in private practice, she joined the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps in 2000 and spent 13 years in the Army serving numerous tours, including overseas. While in the Army, Dr. Franklin completed her small animal surgical residency training at Oklahoma State University in 2008. After completing her residency, she spent another five years in the Army as a veterinary surgeon. She was Chief of Surgery for the Military Working Dog Hospital, Lackland AFB. Since 2013, she has been working for Texas Specialty Veterinary Services.

Dr. Camila Souza, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVS– LA

Associate Surgeon

Dr. Camila Souza graduated from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and came to the United States to pursue a specialization in Equine Surgery in 2009. She completed an internship at Washington State University (WSU), followed by a Master of Science and Residency program in equine surgery. After completing her residency, she stayed at WSU for 3 more years working as a clinical instructor and as the primary equine emergency clinician and surgeon. She went on from there to a position as Clinical Assistant Professor at Kansas State University (KSU), also working as the primary emergency surgeon. At KSU, she also worked in collaboration with a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department to investigate the mechanical forces responsible for the failure of a common implant used to treat comminuted fractures in horses. They plan on publishing the results of their study soon. Following her time at KSU, she moved on to work as the primary surgeon at an equine private practice near Houston, Texas.

Dr. Souza joined Texas Specialty Veterinary Services to expand her horizons, undergo additional training in small animal surgery with the surgeons at TSVS, and continue pursuing her passion for veterinary orthopedic surgery.

Outside of work, you can find her hiking, biking, fly fishing, throwing BBQ parties for her friends, doing woodwork, and diving into house renovation projects with her husband.

Kristina Kiefer, DVM, Ph.D., CCRP, DACVSMR, DACVS-SA

Associate Surgeon

Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

Dr. Kristina Kiefer is a Minnesota native who attended veterinary school at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2006. She completed a rotating internship at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey and a surgical specialty internship at Gulf Coast Veterinary Hospital in Texas. She then returned to the University of Minnesota, where she completed a surgical residency and a Ph.D. in Veterinary Regenerative Medicine.

Throughout her training and career, she has also had a strong interest in working dogs and sports medicine. She has worked on the vet team of several dog sled races, providing care for the canine athletes. With this experience and her strong research background in regenerative medicine, she also went on to specialize in sports medicine and rehabilitation for small animals.

She spent several years working at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor in Small Animal Surgery. She transitioned to providing relief work for surgical and sports medicine services worldwide, supporting specialty hospitals and veterinary teaching hospitals while they provide the best care they can to their patients.

Her favorite free-time activities include any excuse to be outside, time with her dogs, and reading. Huge karma points for sharing your favorite books!

Kim Barrier

CCRVN

Kim has been around animals all her life. She grew up taking care of horses, livestock, and domestic animals. Previously, Kim worked on the human side of medicine for over 15 years. Her love and passion for animals motivated her to make a career change in Veterinary Medicine.
Kim joined Texas Specialty Veterinary Services in November 2011. After years of being on the road with Dr. Harper doing mobile surgery, Kim decided to get certified in canine rehabilitation. In November 2019, with support and help from Dr. Harper, Kim made that dream come true. Kim is now certified in Canine Rehabilitation and, in January 2020, started Texas Specialty Veterinary Services Rehabilitation and Conditioning. Kim now does mobile rehabilitation, going to the client’s home or Veterinary clinic to do in-house Rehabilitation. Kim still plans on retiring when Dr. Harper does.

When Kim is not on the road, she enjoys time with her Husband, Brad, camping, hiking, and running. Kim has two children, Jordan(26) and Taylor (24), and a brand new grandbaby on the way. Kim has 4 dogs and 2 cats.

Erin Pressler

Practice Integrator

Erin grew up in San Antonio and is the youngest of 4 sisters. Her love of animals began at a young age when she tried to nurse back to health an injured baby bird who had fallen from a tree. So, I guess you could say she was destined to work for a veterinary surgeon, right?

Erin started as a kennel technician at a small animal practice in San Antonio. She quickly fell in love with the animals, job, and culture of veterinary medicine. She has been in the animal industry since 2010 and loves it more every day. While Erin enjoys the surgery and medicine aspect of the job, she also enjoys engaging with clients, doctors, and their staff!

She has been married to Kyle for 11 years. They have two beautiful daughters, Kyndal and Emma. Erin has two dogs and 4 cats… but if you ask Erin, she would have 20 more cats if Kyle allowed it.

Taylor Williams

Veterinary Surgical Technician

I was born and raised in a small town in East Texas. Growing up, I knew I loved animals! My mom never had to worry about me getting in trouble, but instead, she had to worry about me bringing home any animal I saw that needed a new home! I moved to San Antonio about 5 years ago with only a little knowledge of vet med, but knew I wanted to work with animals. I worked in general practice for those 5 years, where my love for helping animals only grew stronger. I have 4 dogs- a Labrador, Shar Pei, Pug and Frenchie. During my free time, I love spending time with my husband, my family, and with my fur babies. I also love traveling the world and reading the next best book.

Madison Merrill

Veterinary Surgical Technician

Madison graduated from Tarleton State University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. She started her career as an equine rehabilitation and conditioning tech, focusing on wellness techniques and performance. During her time as an equine tech, Madison started her own business as a Certified Magna Wave PEMF Practitioner to further improve the healing process. Madison was born and raised in Texas! She grew up riding horses and barrel racing. Madison spends her free time training and going on adventures with her Golden Retrievers, Aspen and Briggs! Madison joined the TSVS team in October of 2020 to make a difference in her love of animals.

Sara Ortiz

Veterinary Surgical Technician

Hello! My name is Sara Ortiz. Working in veterinary medicine has always been my passion. I have been a veterinary technician for 9 years. I’ve worked in general practice, emergency practice and have now gone into specialty. I have 2 dogs named Antonio and Debhanie and a cat named Noelle. My hobbies include watching sports, spending time with my family and friends. I am excited to join TSVS as a surgical veterinary technician and look forward to growing in my career.

Kelly Nelson

Veterinary Surgical Technician

I have spent 9 years of my career working within specialty surgery, with a passion for anesthesia, analgesia, and emergency surgery. I love learning about the ever changing veterinary field and new ways to help patients. I live in Ohio with my husband, daughter, and son.  I love to spend time with my family, travel, foster puppies, and crochet. My husband and I also play broomball!  We have 2 dogs named Abby and Zoey, as well as a Flemish Giant rabbit named Snuffles who is about 15 pounds! 

Daisy Cazares

Veterinary Surgical Technician

I was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. I graduated from Palo Alto College with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Veterinary Technology. I’ve been in the veterinary medicine field for about 6 years. I started off as a kennel technician and worked my way up! As a young girl, my parents always had dogs, cats, goats, and chickens around the house. I always had the love and desire to help them grow. When I’m not at work, I like to spend my day outdoors with friends and family. I have 4 dogs- a Labrador Retriever mix, a Pitbull mix, a Jack Russell Terrier, and a long hair Chihuahua.

Dr. Michael Dosal

Owner/Lead Veterinarian

After growing up in Minnesota, Dr. Dosal moved further north for his undergraduate studies attending the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota. While finishing his undergraduate degree, Dr. Dosal and his wife became heavily involved in animal rescue efforts on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Dr. Dosal and his wife (Dr. Lauren Dosal) were both accepted to and graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.

After graduation, Dr. Dosal spent a year in England, completing a surgical internship in orthopedic and neurosurgery under world-renowned surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick. Dr. Dosal has a keen interest in research and participated in developing multiple novel surgical techniques and implant designs that utilized cutting-edge technologies like CT reconstruction imaging and CAD software to manufacture bespoke 3D-printed titanium implants. His many hours of research efforts and manuscript writing were recently rewarded when one of the papers he collaborated on with his colleagues was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA).

After returning to the States in 2017, Dr. Dosal spent the next three years under surgeon Dr. Justin Harper’s supervision, honing his craft in small animal surgery. While Dr. Dosal continues to absorb mentorship from Dr. Harper, especially on unique and challenging cases, he has become a well-rounded surgical practitioner in his own right, performing various specialty orthopedic and soft tissue procedures since joining the TSVS surgical team in 2020.

Samantha Zuniga

Veterinary Surgical Technician

Samantha was born and raised in the RGV and is currently seeking to become a licensed veterinary technician. She is also pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry. Her passion has led her to volunteer at a local animal shelter and the local zoo. She previously worked at a small animal hospital for 5 years before joining TSVS. Samantha joined TSVS because of her interest in surgery and love for helping animals. In her spare time, Samantha enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her dog, Jean.