About Us
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Midstate Veterinary Services was formed in 1998 with the merger of two long established veterinary clinics, Animal Barn and Large Animal Clinic. We strive to provide high quality, responsible animal care emphasizing preventive medicine and excellent customer service with 24 hour care for our clients.
Midstate Veterinary Services recently opened a new modern 6,000 sq. ft. facility on Rte. 13 just south of Cortland. As a full service mixed animal practice we offer in-house care of companion animals and on farm care of large animals specializing in a variety of dairy and equine services. The staff, with over 62 years of combined service, and 10 DVMs are committed to providing personal attention to the individual concerns and needs of our patients and their owners.

Our Team

Jennifer Sun DVM - Owner

Jenn grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY and from a very early age had a strong attraction towards all things furry.  She received both her B.S. '02 and DVM '06 from Cornell University and joined Midstate after graduation and has been here since.  Her professional interests include preventative medicine and soft tissue surgery in dogs and cats.  She enjoys building long term relationships with her clients/patients and finds her job most satisfying when working as a team.  She shares her home with her husband Kirk, son Bennett,  a crazy hunting brittany named Blue, a super sweet kitty named Mini and assorted horses and chickens.  
Tidbits
When not being "professional" Jenn loves backcountry hiking and paddling with her family and practices circus arts.

Laura Rath Brown DVM - Owner

Laura grew up in West Pawlet, VT.  She discovered her passion for large animal medicine while assisting her father with veterinary farm calls. Her undergraduate studies at Juniata College prepared her for her tenure at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.  Since graduation in 2009 she has worked at Midstate Veterinary Services where she splits her time between bovine and equine patients.  Professional interests include large animal internal medicine and reproduction.  She enjoys working with farms of all sizes from the very small to the very large.  In her free time, Laura also enjoys traveling with her husband Jeremy, riding her horses and doting on her cats and brown swiss cows.  ​​
Tidbits
All of Laura's animals have middle names.  What's your pet's middle name?

Rachel Murray Brown DVM - Associate

Rachel grew up in Truxton, NY on a dairy farm.  Her love for animals showed at an early age as she tried to bring every barn kitten into the house, despite her family's objections.  Rachel earned a Bachelor's degree from the University of Findlay in animal science and biology.  She stayed in the Midwest for veterinary school and graduated in 2021 from Iowa State University.  Rachel started with Midstate after graduation and has enjoyed getting to know clients and their animals.  Rachel spends her free time with her husband and all their pets (cats, dogs, goats, a tortoise and man more) on the family farm.

Carolyn Kokko DVM - Associate

Carolyn was born and raised in New Hampshire, where she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire.  She later joined the Cornell Veterinary College, class of 2016, and has been practicing veterinary medicine ever since. Her growing animal family includes one horse, one heifer, two dogs, four cats and dozens of hens.  
Tidbits
Carolyn earned her master's degree in ruminant nutrition from UC Davis, and continues to publish in peer-reviewed journals on dairy nutrition. 

Kerry Schneider DVM - Associate

Kerry grew up moving around the country east of the Mississippi River with her family, eventually settling down in Wisconsin.  She made it to New York for school and after working in research for a few years, discovered her passion for veterinary medicine and attended Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine graduating in 2019.  During her years at Cornell, Kerry started milking cows and working at the Large Animal Hospital, putting her on the path of pursuing large animal practice.  Since then she has been working at Midstate, enjoying the cows, countryside and hiking with her two dogs.
Tidbits
Kerry loves baking everything from cakes to bread.  She would often spend her time baking to prepare for her study group in vet school instead of studying. 

Ronja Ogrodnik DVM - Associate

Ronja grew up in Spencer, NY on a small hobby farm. Much of her time was spent on horseback riding the trails on surrounding state land and taking lessons at nearby hunter-jumper barns. She received her bachelor’s degree from Alfred University where she studied biology and rode on the varsity hunter-jumper IHSA team. Shortly after Ronja and her dog Sunna made the trek north, to Guelph, Ontario where she attended the Ontario Veterinary College. Following graduation Ronja completed a 1 year internship at the Equine Clinic at Oakencroft, just outside of Albany, New York, to further develop her skills and knowledge in equine medicine. She is very excited to be back in the finger lakes as part of the Midstate team and looks forward to developing relationships with clients and their horses, dogs and cats. 



​Tidbits
 Dr. Ronja is now certified in Spinal Manipulative Therapy.




 
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Kaitlyn McGarvey DVM - Associate

  Kaitlyn grew up in a small town outside of Albany, NY.  From a young age, she knew that she wanted to be a veterinarian.  She received her Bachelor's degree in Animal Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2018.  It was during her time at UMass that she found a love for large animals working on the school farm with sheep and goats, a local swine farm, and milking cows at a local dairy farm.  She went on to complete her DVM degree at Cornell University in 2022 and has been with Midstate since then.  She enjoys splitting her time between equine, bovine and small animal patients.  Her hobbies include running, gardening, spending time with her cats, boyfriend, and family.
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Brittany Webb Freed DVM - Associate


Brittany grew up in Milford, DE but has become a huge Buckeye fan after receiving both her B.S. and D.V.M degree from The Ohio State University. O-H!  Dr. Webb fell in love with the dairy and agricultural industry through her time in the FFA and by working at a few small dairy operations.  She enjoys both sick cow work and consulting with farmers to help them achieve their goals.  In addition, Brittany has an equine interest, especially in internal medicine and reproduction.  She grew up riding and was on OSU's Hunt Seat Equestrian team during her undergraduate career.  Before joining our team, Dr. Webb worked at a mixed animal veterinary clinic in Ohio for a few years and recently moved to the area with her husband, Jordan.  They are excited to become a part of the community and explore all the hiking, skiing, kayaking and ice cream the area has to offer.


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Tidbits
Brittany loves traveling, especially when it is animal related.  She spent a few months in Brazil learning about their agricultural and dairy practices.  She has also traveled to Nicaragua as a veterinary volunteer for a program that provided animal welfare education, as well as free spay and neuters to help with animal overpopulation in underserved communities.
Alex Schaff, DVM - Associate
Born in Rochester, NY, Alex's passion for animals and nature flourished in the woods, shaping his path to becoming an Eagle Scout.  After earning his bachelor's from Colgate University, he immersed himself in the animal husbandry practices of cattlemen and women in Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho.  At Colorado State University, he earned a Master of Animal Science and a DVM, even studying livestock medicine in Scotland.  A graduate of Cornell's Summer Dairy Institute, Alex is thrilled to be a large animal vet supporting the CNY farming community.  His professional interests include surgery, emergency work, herd health, nutrient management, and agroecology.  In his free time, he can be found driving and riding horses, skiing at Greek Peak, or working on Agrarian Arts initiatives at the Homer Center for the Arts.

Desiree Bonilla, LVT

​Desiree has been working at Midstate since 2004. She received her LVT from Cedar Valley College. Desiree loves being able to live her "dream job" every day. Married in 2009 with only 4 legged children, she enjoys scrapbooking, cooking and being outdoors. She has 1 dog, 4 cats, 1 rat and 1 horse, which all were adopted.    
Tidbits
Desiree and her husband breed Ball Pythons.  They currently have 30 snakes and counting!

Sarah Clapper, LVT

Sarah grew up in Chenango Bridge, New York.  She attended SUNY Delhi where she received her veterinary technician license.  She adopted her dog Sophie while at school.  She enjoys playing beach volleyball, being outdoors and painting.
 

Kaleigh Fairchild, LVT

 Kaleigh grew up in Sherburne, NY on her family farm.  She received her Veterinary Technician's licensing from SUNY Delhi.  Kaleigh developed an interest in veterinary medicine from growing up on their family farm and being apart of 4H.  in her spare tine she likes to play games with friends and family, go on nature trails, and show her animals at local fairs.

Lynzee Hoffman, LVT


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VTA's
Mackenzie, Alena, Brooklyn, Brittany and Francesca
Front: Meika and Groot 



















CSR'S
Amy, Jaimee, Sarah, Heather and Jess
​Special guest: Linus
















Office Manager: Kelly Knapp
I joined Midstate Veterinary Services in June 1999.  There have been a lot of changes through the years, but the one thing that stays the same is that your animals will always come first.