Our Clinical Staff

Dr. Stanislav Vyrva, DVM (Hons)

Dr. Stanislav Vyrva or better known as Doctor Stas, from the Severodonetsk City in Ukraine.   He graduated from Kharkov Veterinary Academy in 1991 and has over 25 years of experience both as wildlife as well as a small animal doctor including more than 13 years in UAE.   Dr. Stas is thorough with his work and a perfectionist in all tasks undertaken.He is a veterinary surgeon with specialization in orthopedic surgeryand has many international courses including Certification for Three Cone, Cement-, Cementless and Helica Total Hip Replacement, Bone Angular Deformity Correction Osteotomy,  Tibial Tuberosity Advancement and Tibial Plato Leveling Osteotomy.  He also received an advance training in veterinary MRI, CT-scan as well as  Endoscopy.

Dr. Branislav Stojanov, DVM

Dr. Branislav Stojanov graduated from the faculty of veterinary medicine; University of Belgrade, Serbia in 2001. He had been working at a small animal hospital in Novi Sad, Serbia for over 12 years before joining Zabeel Veterinary Hospital.  He has a special interest in the fields of pet dermatology, dentistry and soft tissue surgery. Dr Stojanov has attended for many international and local seminars and workshops as part of his continued professional education (Vienna, Cambridge, Belgrade, Budapest, Dubai). He is trained to perform CT and MRI exam as well. He is a Member of ESVD (European Society of Veterinary Dermatology), SASAP (Serbian association of small animal practitioners) and Veterinary chamber of Serbia. Dr Branislav enjoy to swim, play water polo, hike, read books and spend time with his adorable family and rescue cat.

Dr. Peter Brothers, BVSc, MSc (VTD), MMedVet(Fer)

Dr. Peter Brothers graduated from Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty in South Africa in 1996 with a BVSc degree and a passion for the outdoors, wildlife and all animals large and small. There were very few opportunities for vets to work with wildlife back then and he soon found himself working in the United Kingdom. There he worked in multiple practices with large and small animals, and also owned a small practice in mid-Wales for some time. After 5 years of work and travel he moved back to South Africa and since 2002 has only been doing wildlife work as a veterinarian, along with pursuing some other related business interests. He subsequently completed an MSc degree in Veterinary Tropical Diseases of wildlife (MSc (VTD)), and a veterinary specialisation degree in wildlife (MMedVet(Fer)).  He has worked with extensive and intensive wildlife systems and zoo animals. During this time he has been blessed to work with a multitude of species from elephants to primates and predators, endangered and common, and has immobilized thousands of wild animals. He now shares his experience with Zabeel Veterinary Clinic in Dubai.

Dr. Mafalda Sardinha, DVM

Dr. Mafalda Sardinha graduated in 2009 in Vasco da Gama University, Coimbra, Portugal. Since then, she worked at a reference small animal hospital in Portugal focusing mainly in internal medicine, abdominal ultrasound and laboratory. She also has experience in soft tissue surgery and emergency care. During graduation, she did several internships in exotic and small animal practice, public health and medical parasitology. She was an assistant lecturer of Anatomy and pursued as the main lecturer for 4 years at Vasco da Gama University with focus on angiology and neurology.  She completed post-graduation in Medical Parasitology at Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Lisbon, and enrolled PhD in Parasitology. In the past 4 years, she gained experience as Clinical Director and Founding Member in a small animal practice in Angola.

Dr. Silke Pfitzer, Dr. med. Vet.; MSc.; M. med. Vet. (fer); PhD

Dr. Silke Pfitzer graduated from the veterinary faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilans University, Munich, Germany in 1997. She proceeded to do her doctors’ degree by conducting research on ostrich viruses in South Africa and was awarded her Dr. med. vet. degree in 2000. She then moved to South Africa as her passion lay with African wildlife. For the past 20 years, she worked as a wildlife veterinarian and was intimately involved in breeding, capture, research and translocation of most wildlife species in intensive as well as extensive environments. Some of her career highlights were elephant bull translocations, predator population management on extensive reserves, being a veterinary advisor to the South African Crocodile Farmers Association and accompanying a sea shipment of 120 wild animals to Dubai. During the past 20 years, she also completed an MSc in Veterinary Tropical Diseases, the South African specialization in wildlife (MMed Vet (Fer)) and a PhD about opioid immobilisation of African antelope species. Dr. Silke Pfitzer has published numerous scientific articles as well as several book chapters dealing with captive breeding of various species. She is happy to share her experience with Zabeel Veterinary Hospital in Dubai.

Jay Rael Gonzales, Veterinary Nurse

Jay Gonzales acquired his Veterinary Degree in the Philippines in 2008 and started to work in his own small animal clinic for 1 year before moving to Dubai in 2009. He initially worked as a Pet Groomer for 3 years in Dubai, then in 2012joined Zabeel Veterinary Hospital as a Veterinary Nurse.  He then was privileged to join the imaging team and get trained on assisting the vet to operate CT and MRI unit for small animals.  Jay loves animals and has adopted acat, a dog and also has a fish.In his spare time, he goes swimming, running, cycling and photography.  Jay believes:“if you choose a Job you Love and you will never have to work a day”.

Kareen Tila, Veterinary Nurse

Kareen is a Phippine registered Veterinarian, graduated from Benguet State University, Philipppines. After graduation, she had worked for Pfizer, Philippines as an accredited veterinarian working in the livestock industry. She had also worked in a small animal practice for 6 years while she finished her Master’s Degree in Public Health. She had acquired training and experience in dog training and behavior as well as grooming dogs by breed standards in London, UK where she worked for 6 years.  Kareen joined Zabeel Veterinary Hospital in 2014 with 12 years of experience and has been fortunate to also have acquired training in CT Scan and MRI, assisting doctors in the imaging procedures at ZVH.

Efraim Thomas Y. Maglente, Veterinary Nurse

Efraim studied Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the Philippines and graduated in 2009. Since graduation he has been working in different animal related profession. His first job was in sales, selling veterinary products mostly concerning pigs. Prior to joining the Zabeel Veterinary Hospital team, he was working in an established small animal practice in the Philippines for more than four years.Efraim usually spendshis free time with his wife and beautiful daughter reading books or watching cartoons and cooking. He has two pet dogs and an old cat and is interested in topics regarding religion, culture, history and food.

Brian, Veterinary Nurse

Brian is from the Philippines. He worked for RAK Animal Welfare and Veterinary Centre where he worked with small animals in his various roles, before joining Zabeel Veterinary Hospital in 2018. Brian is eager to learn and truly believes that aside from education, there are some lessons that a person can only learn through experiences.  With this in mind, he continuously educates himself through online training and seminars in order to keep abreast of relevant information, and for skills development. Brian is into outdoor activities such as fishing, camping, nature tripping, etc. and of course quality time with his family and children when possible.

Noli – Veterinary Nurse

Noli studied Doctor of Veterinary medicine and graduated from De La Salle Araneta University, Philippines. After graduation, he worked for the Philippine Government, in Foreign Assisted Projects. Here he worked with production animals assisting local farmers with their herd health. He then moved to the UAE and was employed in the Sharjah Equine Hospital for 5 years before he joined Zabeel Veterinary Hospital in June 2019.  He chose the veterinary profession because he was challenged to handle sick animals and feels animals need to be well cared for.

Mark Bogabil – Pet Groomer

Mark Bogabil has always had a passion working as a Pet Groomer, his love for animals has been life-long and stems from his childhood in the Philippines. He completed a course in Pet Grooming and worked in the animal care industry for 10 years in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He is an accomplished pet stylist and is creative with Pet Grooming, Styling & Trimming. Aside from his passion in pet grooming, he enjoys playing basketball and skateboarding in his free time. Mark believes that there is always something new to learn in the grooming industry and strives to learn new ways to keep pets happy and healthy.