About Us
In This Article
Who We Are
The Pawlance offers practical, real-life tips and training advice to help you care for your pet. We help over 10 million users each month find the information they need to provide the best possible life for their pets. Our 20-year-strong library of over 4,000 in-depth articles covers a variety of topics and pet animals, from cats and dogs, to betta fish and pot bellied pigs. Our team of writers, including trainers, Registered Vet Technicians (RVTs) and Doctors of Veterinary Medicine (DVMs), produce and update informative articles full of valuable insights honed from years of hands-on experience. We are also wholly committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Veterinary Review Board
We know that finding trustworthy veterinary advice online can be difficult—the internet is full of misinformation or personal opinion masquerading as fact. To make caring for your pet easier, we launched The Pawlance Veterinary Review Board, comprised of top board-certified vet professionals. Our goal is to provide you with well-researched, fact-checked information so you can keep your pet happy and healthy.
The Veterinary Review Process
You may notice a badge appearing in some of our content. The badge signifies that a board member has reviewed and edited the article, taking special care to confirm that the information presented is both accurate and up-to-date. Click the link below to learn more about our process.
The Pawlance Veterinary Review Board
Our Veterinary Review Board
Meet some of our Veterinary Review Board members below.
Nick Saint-Erne
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Nick Saint-Erne is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) with 35 years of experience treating dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, rodents, reptiles, fish, exotic pets, and zoo animals. Nick currently practices at the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital and is a consulting veterinarian for several zoos and aquariums in Arizona.
In addition to his veterinary work, Nick has owned pet stores and has been involved in the pet industry as a technical writer for the training materials and customer pet care handouts for a major pet store chain. He has worked with the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in drafting programs to improve the care of pets in pet stores and to reduce the risk of spreading zoonotic diseases.
Nelva J. Bryant
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Nelva Bryant is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a retired LCDR in the U.S. Public Health service with 27+ years professional experience. Currently working in the airline industry, her mission is to improve pet travel via promoting animal welfare, education, and veterinary oversight.
Her knowledge of veterinary pathology, infectious and zoonotic diseases, veterinary public health, the CDC’s dog importation regulations, international and national animal transportation regulations, and airline live animal transportation policies has made her an expert in the field of animal transportation.
Monica Tarantino
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Monica Tarantino is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) with five years of experience as a general practitioner of small animal medicine. She currently works full time as a Level-2 Fear Free certified doctor at an AAHA accredited small animal hospital. Before The Spruce, Monica was a mentor for first-year Animal Medical Hospital veterinary graduates.
Monica has recently begun contributing veterinary content to a number of digital publications, and is eager to share her knowledge with a broader audience. Her interests include emergency medicine, internal medicine, geriatric pet health, and business leadership. She frequently rescues in-need pets, and owns four rescue dogs and two rescue cats with the occasional foster animal for good measure.
Natasha Diehl
Small and Exotic Animal Veterinarian
Dr. Natasha Diehl is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) who graduated from Iowa State University in May 2020. She completed an internship in small and exotic animal general practice and emergency medicine in California and is currently in an exotic animal speciality internship in Indianapolis. She continues to work with a team of veterinarians with a wide range of knowledge within the field and exotic and small pet ownership.
Amy Fox
Veterinarian and Medical Writer
Dr. Fox received her veterinary education at Cornell University and has 15-plus years of experience in the field. She has worked in emergency, shelter, medicine, surgery, and general medicine. Dr. Fox is passionate about client education and making sure pet parents have the most up-to-date, accurate, and accessible information to empower them as caregivers and companions.
Juliane Evans
Veterinarian
Dr. Juliane Evans is a general practitioner of veterinary medicine and certified veterinary acupuncturist who treats companion animals in the Triangle region of North Carolina. She earned her degree from Oklahoma State University and certificate from Chi University, and has had nearly a decade of experience in the field of veterinary medicine. Dr. Evans has worked in small animal medicine hospitals in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Marla Fischl
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Fischl received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, Florida. She has extensive experience in equine medicine, including horse racing, equine sports and performance medicine, pleasure horse, and equine regulatory medicine. She has also provided small animal veterinary care for the racetrack stable companions, dogs, and cats.
Bartley Harrison
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Bartley Harrison is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with over 15 years of experience in emergency medicine. He is currently working at practices across North Carolina with Emergency DVM Relief Services to provide care for pets wherever it is needed.
Due to his career in emergency medicine, he is practiced in communicating the essentials of a wide variety of medical and surgical topics clearly and concisely. He feels that informed pet owners are empowered to make the best decisions for their pet's care.
Alycia Washington
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Alycia Washington is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and has worked as a small animal emergency veterinarian for nearly a decade. She is part of Pawlance's veterinary review board.
Fact Checking
The Pawlance's team of experienced fact checkers provides a critical layer of review to ensure content integrity. This group of professionals is selected and vetted for journalistic and subject matter expertise. They are tasked with researching all statements of fact to ensure that news and health information is accurate and comprehensive and statistics are properly sourced and up to date. Articles that have been officially fact checked will display a "fact check" badge, as well as the name of the fact checker at the top of the page near the author.
Our Writers
All of our writers were carefully chosen for their extensive experience in their subject areas.
Meet Some of Our Writers
Amy Fox
Veterinarian and Medical Writer
Dr. Fox received her veterinary education at Cornell University and has 15-plus years of experience in the field. She has worked in emergency, shelter, medicine, surgery, and general medicine. Dr. Fox is passionate about client education and making sure pet parents have the most up-to-date, accurate, and accessible information to empower them as caregivers and companions.
Adrienne Kruzer
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Adrienne Kruzer is a Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), and Level 2 Fear Free Certified professional that has been writing for The Spruce since 2017.
Adrienne has worked with a wide range of animals—from cats and dogs to exotics like sugar gliders and degus during her 10+ years as an RVT and LVT. She currently works as the Veterinary Nursing Program Relations Manager for Veterinary Emergency Group.
Adrienne received her Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology ('07) and her Associate of Arts ('06) from Cuyahoga Community College and graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration ('21) from Baker College.
Liz Waynick
Registered Veterinary Technician
Liz Waynick is a Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) who currently works full time at a practice located just outside of Cleveland, OH.
Previously, Liz spent the last 10 years working in several multi-doctor veterinary hospitals utilizing her expertise and skills in anesthesia and dentistry as a surgical assistant as well as a dental technician. She passed the Veterinary Technician National Examination in January 2010 and was awarded her license as an RVT. She completes several hours of continuing education each year to stay up-to-date on care for her patients.
Editorial Guidelines
At Pawlance, we take great pride in the quality of our content. Our writers create original, accurate, engaging content that is free of ethical concerns or conflicts. If you ever come across an article that you think needs to be improved, please reach out by emailing contact@pawlance.com.
We aspire to provide the highest quality content produced by humans, for humans. It is against our guidelines to publish automatically generated content using AI (artificial intelligence) writing tools such as ChatGPT.
Product Reviews
Our product reviews are independent and based on research and product testing — if you visit links within our content, we may receive commissions from your purchases, but we never receive any compensation or consideration for the content of our recommendations. Learn more about our review process below.
How We Test Products at Pawlance
Diversity & Inclusion
At Pawlance, our mission is to help everyone make their best home. We cannot stay silent about the injustices, discrimination, hate, and fear that many in our community are facing. We need to do our part to fight systemic racism and oppression; things need to change.
We can do more. We are responsible for using our platform to spread the message of inclusivity, equality, and human rights. We are listening, and we are learning. We will do better. Black lives matter.
Our Team
Our editorial team has extensive category experience and have worked at leading publications and websites in their field.
Mélanie Berliet
General Manager & Senior Vice President
Mélanie is the General Manager and Senior Vice President of Pawlance, The Spruce, The Spruce Crafts, and MyDomaine.Prior to joining Dotdash in 2018, Mélanie was the Chief Editorial Director of Thought Catalog, where she led all content initiatives and managed strategic partnerships.Mélanie has 15 years of experience creating, managing, and publishing lifestyle content across platforms. She has worked as a producer and writer for brands including MTV, Vanity Fair, Elle, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, Salon, Esquire, and iHeartRadio.She earned a B.A. in Political Economy from Georgetown University.
Emily Manchester
VP & Associate Group General Manager
Emily is the Vice President & Associate Group General Manager, Home & Pets at Dotdash Meredith.She has been with Dotdash since 2016. Emily was a part of the team that launched the original Spruce site in 2017. She began at Dotdash as an Editor before transitioning to the Growth and Strategy team where she operated as an SEO Manager for the The Spruce and MyDomaine brands and several others.
Allie Giordano
General Manager
Allie Giordano is the General Manager of Daily Paws and Pawlance at Dotdash Meredith. Previously she was the General Manager for Home Brands at Meredith Corporation, overseeing business operations for Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart, and Southern Living. Allie has spent most of her career in advertising, focusing on managing and training sales support teams and building strategic partnerships with agency and brand clients.
She earned a BA in Business from Brown University and an MBA from NYU Stern, specializing in Strategy, Leadership and Change Management.
Amy Sheehan
Senior Design Director
Amy joined the Dotdash Meredith team as Design Director for the Home & Pets group in March 2021. She is a proud pet parent to her cat, Dirty Snowball.Prior to joining Dotdash Amy was the Art Director for Insider Studios, the branded content team for Business Insider and Insider where she designed for numerous legacy brands such as Cartier, Chase, Lincoln, and United.
