A 31-year-old former veterinary assistant for the Riverside County Department of Animal Services is now a staff veterinarian, following a long journey to the Land Down Under and back to Riverside.
Itzel Vizcarra, a 2009 graduate of John W. North High School in Riverside, was added to the county payroll last month as an animal doctor, going back to the Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley, where she had acquired her initial training without pay years earlier.
“I have flashbacks to the first time I got to clean the surgery utensils as a volunteer,” Vizcarra said. “That was fun and exciting for me, and now getting to use those utensils is pretty surreal.”
Vizcarra had her heart set on animal care from her first days as a volunteer, and she was encouraged to fulfill her dream of practicing veterinary medicine by retired county Chief Veterinarian Dr. Allan Drusys, who was with the Department of Animal Services from 2005 to 2020, including a brief stint as the agency’s administrator.
Drusys procured his master’s degree in veterinary public health management from the University of Sydney in Australia, and he “poked and prodded” Vizcarra to broaden her horizons and look for opportunities to achieve her goals.
“I offered her assistance in finding her eventual university, and the University of Sydney came in for her,” he said. “This is another example of doing the best for the staff and creating opportunity for the staff to grow — either into another position, or to grow themselves outside of the department — and advance their station in life.”
Vizcarra completed her studies last year, acquiring hands-on experience with the full gamut of Australia’s wildlife, including kangaroos, koalas, wombats — even Tasmanian devils. She returned to the U.S. and passed her veterinary board exams in November, according to the Department of Animal Services.
Vizcarra considered remaining Down Under, but could never get used to some of the creepy crawlers.
“I had to come back home because the spiders are way too big,” she said.