Dr. Benson wanted to be a veterinarian her whole life. When she was five years old she told her family that is what she wanted to be when she grew up. She lived in Colorado and Alabama before settling in New Mexico where her family still lives. She graduated from New Mexico State University for undergraduate school and then moved to Louisiana to attend Tulane University for her Master’s degree. She attended Louisiana State University for veterinary school.

Dr. Benson moved to Nevada and has been practicing veterinary medicine in the area since 2006. She has worked at Sunridge Animal Hospital and South Valley Animal Hospital. In October of 2018, she became the practice manager at West Russell Animal Hospital.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, jogging, and most importantly spending time with her husband and fur family. Her husband introduced her to Great Danes, a breed that she now can’t live without.

Dr. Cheryl Kaku was born and raised in Palo Alto, California. She always had a passion to work with animals as long as she can remember. In high school, Dr. Kaku started working in the veterinary field as a receptionist then a technician. She received her Bachelor’s degree from UCLA, then went on to veterinary school at St. George’s University on the island of Grenada in the Caribbean. Dr. Kaku completed her 4th-year clinical rotations at NC State University. After graduation, she went back to California then moved to Illinois for a year and a half before moving to Las Vegas in December 2018. Dr. Kaku’s world revolves around my 3 chubby Chihuahuas (Ringo, Kimchi, and Draymond) that love to be spoiled. She enjoys spending time with her family and furbabies, eating all types of food, watching movies, going to concerts, rollerblading, taekwondo, and Muay Thai kickboxing.

Lindsay’s love of animals started back in grade school when she realized that life couldn’t get any better then when she was spending it in the company of her childhood pup, Sandy. Fast forward a few years and Lindsay is still living her best life spending the better part of the last decade in Veterinary medicine and finding her furever home a year ago with Dr. Benson at West Russell Animal Hospital. As a single mom of a very full house, she loves to relax whenever she can whether it be at home with her two and four legged babies or in a pair of cowboy boots tearing up a dance floor.

Erin was born and raised in Lakewood, CA and moved to Las Vegas in 2012. In 2020 she started her courses at Penn Foster to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician. Erin joined the West Russell Team in June of 2021. She enjoys time with her fur babies (Milo, Mojo and Jojo), time with family and friends and learning new recipes at home.

Madison was born in Santa Clarita, CA; she spent most of her time growing up with her animals. She had dogs, cats, rabbits, and birds. Throughout her teenage years, she was a competitive dancer. She moved to New Jersey to pursue her choreographer career and did training throughout New York City, and even trained with the Radio City Rockettes. She moved to Las Vegas in September of 2020 and joined the West Russell Animal Hospital Team to pursue her love of animals.

She enjoys spending her free time with her Australian Shepherd/ Heeler mix Roxie Rae and her two rescue black cats, Wednesday and Pugsley. She loves the beach, surfing, traveling, and taking Roxie on walks. You can catch her teaching at a local Dance Studio in the Vegas area when you don’t see her running our front desk. Madison thoroughly enjoys all of the clients and pets at West Russell Animal Hospital.

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Regina completed the veterinary technician program at the College of Southern Nevada and became licensed in 2018. She joined the West Russell team in December 2018. Regina has a full household with Cocker Spaniels and Pitbulls, Banana and Potato, and her cats – Alex, Jimmy, and Pancake. She spends her free time traveling, drawing, and spending time with her friends and family.

Kelly was born and raised in San Bruno, California and moved to Las Vegas in September 2015. She graduated from Sacramento Sate in May 2010 with a Bachelors in Psychology, and went back to school in May 2018 to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician. Kelly has been with West Russell Animal Hospital since January 2019 and is an avid Giants baseball and 49er football fan, She also enjoys spending time with family and friends, and spoiling her cat Kami.