Deirdre Brandes, DVM with her dogs, Gromit (left) and Stanley (right)

Dr. Deirdre Brandes is a native of San Diego. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Nutrition at the University of California at Davis and went on to earn her degree in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University in 1999.

After veterinary school, Dr. Brandes returned to San Diego and worked in various practices before founding Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital in 2005, with her husband, Dave Oei. Her focus is on providing compassionate, high-quality veterinary care for all pets. She especially enjoys surgery, dentistry, and dermatology.

Dr. Brandes feels fortunate to have a connection with this amazing community by caring for its families’ beloved pets. She has remained active in the community throughout her life by volunteering at animal shelters, schools, and with animal rescue groups. She loves teaching school kids about being a veterinarian.

When she is not at the veterinary hospital, she is happiest spending time with her family, enjoying nature, and playing soccer. (RSF vet trivia: Dr. Dayton and Dr. Brandes played varsity soccer for Torrey Pines High School and now play together in a league again).

Her pet family includes her rescue dogs, Stanley and Gromit, laying hens, and many fish.

Meghan McIntosh, VMD

Dr. Meghan McIntosh grew up in Los Angeles. She received a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Johns Hopkins University. While at Hopkins, she competed for the varsity soccer team. (Fun fact: she is in the NCAA record books for scoring two consecutive goals in a span of 10 seconds!) After hanging up her cleats, she traveled up the eastern seaboard and attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Her post-graduate training included completing a highly competitive rotating internship in small animal internal medicine, surgery, and emergency and critical care at the New England Animal Medical Center in Boston.

Dr. McIntosh believes strongly in community outreach and has volunteered for various animal health and welfare organizations such as the Native American Veterinary Services, Greyhound Pets of America, Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) in South Africa, and others.  In her free time, Dr. McIntosh enjoys hiking, reading, and devouring any type of dessert. You may see her zipping around Solana Beach on her electric bicycle, Bullet.

Tara Haley, DVM

Dr. Tara Haley studied at Cornell University Veterinary School with Dr. Brandes, where they both graduated in 1999. Dr. Haley has since worked in Southern California, providing high quality veterinary care for dogs, cats and small mammals. She has strong interests in internal medicine, ultrasound, dermatology, and behavior, while also carrying a particular fondness for senior pets. We believe you will be delighted by her warmth and the attention she will give you and your pet.When not at the hospital, she spends time with her husband, daughter and beloved pets. She enjoys traveling, baking, reading and going to the beach.

Jeff Pollard, DVM

Dr. Jeff Pollard hails from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. He received his veterinary medical degree in 1990 from the University of Naples, Italy. He practiced emergency medicine for the majority of his 30-year career and in 2006, achieved board certification in canine and feline practice as a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.

Grateful for the good fortune to practice veterinary medicine, Dr. Pollard volunteers for several veterinary organizations on the both the national & state levels. He was drawn to Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital because of the team approach to medicine and how dedicated everyone is, not only to the patients and clients, but also to each other. His priority is to ensure that every owner is thoroughly informed about their companion animals’ health and treatment options.  He truly enjoys getting to know clients and strives to work together to reach our mutual goals for a happy healthy life.

When not pursuing his passion for veterinary medicine, he is an inveterate gardener, and a firm believer in the adage that gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.

Sarah and Raleigh

Sarah was born in Philadelphia after part of her family moved to the United States from England. She was raised in San Diego and will never leave! She is very close with her family and continues to visit Europe whenever she gets the chance. Sarah has always had a strong passion for the veterinary field. She grew up with dogs, cats, birds and pocket pets and knew from a young age that helping animals was her future. She started volunteering at small animal clinics at a young age and is now one of our Registered Veterinary Technicians. She became California board certified in 2007. With the experience and extensive technician skill training this hospital has provided since early 2007, she is now the Hospital Manager and is thrilled to see how this hospital has grown throughout the years. Sarah is the proud owner of a Shepherd Mix named Raleigh, a cat named Ryder and a Sun Conure named Papaya. In her spare time, she loves spending time with family and friends, visiting the beach, kickboxing, watching movies and listening to music.

Robin and Buttercup

Robin was born in New York but has lived in Southern California since she was a little girl. She studied animal sciences at UC Davis and has put her degree to good use. She has worked in the veterinary business for 30 years and has held many different positions in small animal hospitals throughout Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego County. She has two pets: Buttercup the Maltipoo and Buddy the Australian Cattle Dog. In her free time Robin likes to spend time with her dogs, play guitar and read.

Hannah and Pretzi

Hannah moved here from a small town in mid Missouri shortly after graduating college in 2017. Hannah knew she wanted to make a career out of her love for animals. She began her journey at Helen Woodward Animal Center where she worked in the foster department. She cared for many orphaned animals and rescued her very own cat, Pretzi. She joined the family at Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital in Spring 2018 and has enjoyed every minute! In her free time, Hannah likes visiting local coffee shops, hiking, and playing board games with her friends and family. Pictured: Hannah and her cat Pretzi.

Jasmine and Taz

Jasmine was born in Boston, grew up in Nebraska, and then moved to San Diego. She has just graduated from California State University San Marcos with a degree in Business Marketing and Management. She has grown up around animals her whole life and has always had a passion for them. During her freetime, she enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, running, and visiting the beach. She also loves to spend time riding around the trails of Ramona on horseback. Since starting her job at Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital, she has been able to get her first dog, Taz. She is excited to learn more about the veterinary field and explore more opportunities.

Cambria and Iris

Cambria was born in Berkeley, California but moved to Los Angeles at a young age where she lived most of her life. She knew she wanted to work with animals her whole life, and since science was one of her favorite subjects in school, it made most sense to her to work in the veterinary field one day. She started at RSF in 2021 right after graduating from UC Riverside as a biochemistry major, and has dreams of going to veterinary school one day. In her free time, she loves to read, go to amusement parks, dance, play volleyball, and spend time with her dog, Iris!

Heather and Gus-Gus

Heather was born and raised in San Diego, and grew up surrounded by cats, dogs, fish, birds, and turtles! She has a lifelong passion for animal research and care, and graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in Marine Biology in 2022. Her favorite things to do are knit, watch scary movies, and relax with her cat, Gus-Gus. She hopes to expand her knowledge of veterinary care and continue her education in the field.

Jacquie and her dog, Frosty

Jacquie was born in Chicago, Illinois but relocated to San Diego just before she started kindergarten. Due to the beautiful weather, she has not left since. Jacquie originally obtained an Associates Degree from Palomar College, where she began the nursing program. H owever, after volunteering at the Escondido Humane Society, she decided she wanted to be an animal nurse. She restarted school and graduated from Mesa College with an Associates Degree in Animal Health Technology. She received her Registered Veterinary Technician license in 2013. Her favorite classes in veterinary technician school were clinical pathology, surgical nursing, and pharmacology. ​In her spare time Jacquie enjoys hanging out at the beach, interior design, yoga, ​snorkeling​, hiking, going to the zoo​/safari park​, and spending time with her ​family​ and friends. Jacquie’s pets include ​Scrappy​, a​​ rescued ​Cock-a-Poo (not pictured) from Mexico​, four beloved cats, and fish. In the future Jacquie hopes to ​gain experience with​ lions, tigers, and​​ marine mammals.

Cossette and Harley

Jacqueline Cossette was born and raised in North Dakota, but has lived in San Diego since the early 90’s. She holds a deep love for and has always been surrounded by pets.  She previously worked in the hospitality industry with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts before joining the pet care community at Dexter’s Deli, Del Mar, the local original health food store for dogs and cats.  Cossette loves working at Ranch Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital for the daily interactions with animals and their people. She loves witnessing the bond between these wonderful pets and their very special pet parents.  In her free time Cossette enjoys petsitting, beach walks, reading, music, movies, and hanging out with family and friends.

Jiahang with Mocha and Toffee

Jiahang was born and raised in Shenzhen, China before moving to San Diego for his undergraduate study. Jiahang spent years in research about neural circuits related to sensory and emotion in academia and earned his master degree in biological sciences at UC San Diego. Then he worked as an associate scientist developing cell culture models for drug development in a biotech company for one year and a half. With love for animals always there, Jiahang finally decided it was better to start late than never to pursue his passion in animal medical care and joined the team of Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital in 2023. He has loved every moment working here since then and dreamed of going to veterinary school in future. When he is not working, Jiahang enjoys walking with his two dogs on the beach, traveling and taking photographs of animals either in the wild or zoo.

Justyna and Milky

Justyna was born and raised in Poland. She graduated high school in a biology and chemistry profile, then earned a Master’s in Public Administration in 2001. Right after that she moved with her husband to San Diego. Since early years she always had pets around her, including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. She currently has an adorable new Welsh Corgi puppy named Biscuit and a guinea pig named JoJo but the love of her life will always be her West Highland White Terrier, Milky. Justyna joined the Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital team to pursue her dream of working with animals. In her free time Justyna loves traveling, cooking, baking and spending time with her family.

Rozel and Tiger

Born and raised in San Diego, Rozel always knew she wanted to work with animals. She was surrounded by pets and grew up watching Animal Planet, which sparked her passion for veterinary medicine. She graduated from the Veterinary Assistant program at Pima Medical Institute in 2017, after which she began working at Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital. She plans to go back to school to become a Registered Veterinary Technician. In her spare time she loves to bake, go to the beach, watch scary movies and try new foods!

Victoria and Indiana

After being inspired to work in the veterinary industry following the rescue of her Spaniel Mix, Indiana (pictured), 7 years ago, Victoria served as a front desk receptionist in person at Rancho Santa Fe Veterinary Hospital from 2017 to 2022. Besides working with our fantastic team, the best perk of the job was all of the puppy snuggles! Victoria currently works remotely for the hospital as administrative support since she is now based in North Carolina with her husband, 2-year-old daughter and two small dogs. She loves being outdoors, is a creative writer at heart and has a childhood dream of publishing her own novel.

Dave Oei, General Manager

Dave has taken the long road to working at a veterinary hospital. Originally a graduate from UC Davis with degrees in Biochemistry and Psychology, he’s worked after college as a network administrator, computer programmer, software configuration manager, and marketing product manager. Several of the companies he’s worked for include Websense, Inc. and EMC.

Along the way he became an inventor, and completed an MBA at San Diego State University with a thesis in the subject of International Accounting.

Currently, he oversees marketing, finance, information technology, and human resources for the hospital.

When he’s not working, Dave can often be seen chasing after his two sons and putting the finishing touches on a book based on stories he once told them. His random musings can be found on Twitter: @daveoei.