Dr. Danielle Fritz has been practicing equine ambulatory medicine in the Cowichan Valley since 2006. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine with distinction. After completing an equine surgery and anesthetic internship in Portland Oregon, she returned home to Vancouver Island to start her own equine practice. Dr. Fritz enjoys all aspects of veterinarian medicine from dentistry to general equine health however her main interests include equine reproduction, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal health. In 2008 Dr. Fritz performed the first equine embryo transfer on Vancouver Island. Danielle keeps very busy chasing after her daughter Brooklyn and her son Nickolas. In her free time she enjoys carting her miniture horse Gino and caring for the ever changing herd of horses and ponies. You can find her on her days off on the farm with the cats, chickens, rabbits and of course Marvin the dashound.

Dr. Danielle Fritz

Past Team Members:

Dr. Amelia Whitelaw

Michelle Vezina

Veterinarian's assistant.

Michelle was born in New Hampshire and raised on Saltspring Island. She began riding lessons at the age of 5 and has been pursuing her passion for horses ever since. Starting in Hunter/Jumper and then Pony Club, she began to focus on Dressage in her teens. Following high school Michelle moved to Europe to be a working student at a Dressage training and showing farm. There she gained experience caring for International show horses as well as being the rider for the 3-5 year olds. Following her return to Canada she accepted a position at a busy training, showing and breeding farm near Ottawa. Missing home Michelle came back and took over a previous bosses high-end house painting business. After some time spent travelling Michelle rejoined the horse industry on Vancouver Island and became a Certified Vet Assistant. Michelle enjoys spending time exploring and camping with her dog Gracie, and of course her fiancé Chris.

Dr. Nareela Lupton

Anna Hawthorne

Office manager and veterinarian's assistant.

Anna was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley. She caught the horse bug young and was lucky enough to have supportive parents who helped her start riding at 5 and get her first horse at 11. With that first horse, Sara she participated in all sorts of equestrian sport, from competitive trail to eventing. You can now find her riding a variety of horses. Care of the equestrian athlete and best friend has always been important to Anna, from her experience caring for her own, to doing farm care and grooming at shows for others. When not at the barn she loves to hike with her parents’ pack of Border Collies, teach her bunny Isabel new tricks and camp. Joining Danielle Fritz DVM in April of 2017, she brings knowledge of horse handling and customer service to the team.

As Clinic Manager in and out of the office, Anna is the assistant to the veterinarian's appointments and the one answering inquiries by call, text and email..

We were so sad to say goodbye to Dr White as she left in March of 2022 to join Burwash Equine and be closer to family. We wish her all the best on her new adventures!

Dr. Katharine White

Since her first back-country horseback trip in Banff, AB as a toddler, Dr. Katy White has always felt a strong connection to horses. With some of her happiest moments on horseback, it was a natural progression to competing in 3-day eventing and eventually training young sport and racehorses for sale. Dr. White continued to ride as she pursued her undergraduate degree at the University of Victoria and started to work in veterinary clinics to gain exposure to the profession. She has worked in a variety of areas of veterinary medicine from small animal emergency practice to bovine medicine, rural mixed animal practice, and humanitarian veterinary work in Kenya. However, her passion for horses has never wavered. While earning her DVM from the University of Calgary, Dr. White specifically pursued her interest in sports medicine through student positions and externships at referral equine hospitals in Canada and the USA. She graduated at the top of her class in 2019 before moving to Colorado to complete a 1-year internship at Littleton Equine Medical Center. Here, Dr. White gained specialty training in equine emergencies, internal medicine, surgery, and sports medicine. In her spare time, Dr. White enjoys exploring the outdoors with her husband Colby (a biologist) and their dog Trout from riding, to skiing, mountain biking, paddling, and everything in between.

About Us

DR. DANIELLE FRITZ DVM INC

Est. 2006

Serving the Cowichan Valley

Dr. Amelia Whitelaw was raised on a hobby farm on Vancouver Island with horses, alpacas, chickens, dogs, and cats. Amelia then moved to Vancouver to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Biology at UBC before moving to Alberta to study veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary. Amelia graduated from UCVM in June 2018 and then completed a one-year internship at Burwash Equine Services where she enjoyed working with horse clients and continued to develop her skills on equine lameness, dentistry, internal medicine, and surgery. She then worked at a mixed animal veterinary practice in rural Alberta for two years as the primary equine veterinarian. Her special interests include equine preventative medicine, dentistry, and internal medicine. After the birth of her daughter, she made the exciting move back to Vancouver Island with her husband to be closer to family. On days off, she is looking forward to exploring all the island has to offer with her family.--

Dr. Kaitlin McDonald

Kaitlin was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, where her grandparents got her hooked on horses at an early age. She began taking lessons at age 8 and from those first walk-trot lessons, progressed into showing in the Hunters and Jumpers. After completing her BSc in Honours Physiology from the University of Alberta in 2008, Kaitlin worked as a groom for a jumper trainer and ran her own business as an equine massage therapist. While in vet school at the University of Calgary, Kaitlin worked on a research project evaluating cardiovascular performance in chuckwagon racehorses; with the on-site veterinary team at Spruce Meadows; and externed at a variety of equine veterinary practices in Edmonton, Calgary, Langley, Colorado and Tennessee. After her graduation from vet school in May 2015, Kaitlin accepted a very competitive internship position at Tennessee Equine Hospital, a 14-veterinarian speciality referral practice near Nashville, TN. Kaitlin has special interests in dentistry and sports medicine, and has plans to obtain her chiropractic certification in the near future. In her spare time, Kaitlin enjoys riding and showing her 10 year old CWB mare, Belle. Outside of horses, she enjoys distance running, hiking, water sports, and spending time with her husband and fellow veterinarian, Adam their husky-cross Scout and jack russell border collie Glia

Dr. Lupton grew up riding horses from the age of nine years old, competing in the Hunter Jumper circuits throughout high school. She then spent 3 years starting colts for a horse trainer in Yarrow, BC, followed by several years working as a wrangler at a guest ranch and cowboying at the OK Ranch in Big Bar BC. In her final year of vet school, she finished externships at Moore Equine in Alberta and Paton & Martin Equine in Aldergrove BC.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Applied Animal Biology in 2015 from UBC. Nareela pursued her passion for large animal medicine and graduated from Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.

Nareela has now lived on Vancouver Island for the past four years and is excited to continue to support fellow farmers and horse enthusiasts. She has a special interest in equine dentistry and equine reproduction & neonatology. During her spare time she enjoys team cattle penning and training her dogs for dog shows!