Dr. Dewey Carpenter grew up in Greenville S.C and served 6 years in the U.S. Navy. Following his honorable discharge from the Navy he completed a Bachelors of Science in Biology and Chemistry at Charleston Southern University in 1996. He then received his DVM from Mississippi State University in 2000, completed an Internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Auburn University in 2001 and finished a residency in Comparative Cardiology at the University of Minnesota in 2004. He became boarded in cardiology through the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2005.
He began private practice in Cary, North Carolina in the summer of 2004 before joining Coral Springs Animal Hospital, where he was the sole Cardiologist from 2006 to 2016. He left Coral Springs Animal Hospital in 2016 to start Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology with the idea to expand the availability of specialized veterinary cardiology to all of Florida. He also strives to provide excellent and compassionate care to all his patients which is the core of Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology’s mission statement.
Dr. Carpenter has been married for over 30 years, has three children, as well as two cats, and 3 dogs. He currently lives in Coral Springs Florida. In his off time, he enjoys family activities, scuba diving as well as training in Northern Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung Fu.
Dr. John Hertzer grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before moving to Tampa, Florida to complete his undergraduate education at the University of South Florida. He then moved to Gainesville and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 2020. While in veterinary school, he served as the Vice President of the student chapter of the ACVIM and published an abstract on the clinical usage of intravenous pimobendan. He then completed a rotating internship at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. While at TAMU, he published a case report as well as a manuscript on the effects of body positioning on EKG measurements. Additionally he contributed to several other manuscripts while at TAMU.
Dr. Hertzer then completed a specialty internship in veterinary cardiology at Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology and is beginning his 3 year residency with Sawgrass Veterinary
Cardiology. He firmly believes that client understanding of their pet’s disease is crucial to each patient’s long term survival and strives to educate owners about their pet’s healthcare plan.
Dr. Hertzer loves spending time at the beach, boating, and barbequing in his backyard. In the fall, he can be found cheering on the Gators or Steelers.
Dr. Alexa Cesarek grew up in Houston, Texas before moving to College Station, Texas for her undergraduate education at Texas A&M University. She then moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to attend Louisiana State University SVM, graduating Summa cum Laude in 2023. She completed her small animal rotating internship at the University of Georgia CVM, where she conducted research on the treatment of congestive heart failure in an exotic species.
Dr. Cesarek is currently an intern for Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology and will be pursuing further training to become a practicing Veterinary Cardiologist.
In Dr. Cesarek’s free time she loves spending her time with her husband and their fur babies. She enjoys watching SEC sports, trying new foods, a nice glass of wine and spending time outdoors.
Stormi was born in Texas and raised on a farm. Growing up she had horses, dogs, cats, chickens, turtles, lizards, cows you name it. She has two dogs named Stella and Rocky. She loves her furbabies so much. One of her favorite hobbies is aggressive inline skating. She also loves to fish.
Carol divides her time between her full time ICU job and her duties with Sawgrass Veterinary Cardiology. She has always had a strong bond with animals and has known that she would be working in the field since she was very young. She has been working in the veterinary field since 1988 starting first in a small general practice then working her way up to Specialty/ICU medicine.
She has been focused on Cardiology since 2006 and has been working with Dr. Carpenter since 2009. She takes great pride in her ability to calm anxious patients and make them feel safe and sound in her care. Outside of work she enjoys listening to music, going to concerts, watching movies on her couch with her 5 cats Annie, Patches, Sassy, Henry and Milton.
Doris Hatch was born and raised in New Hampshire, and moved to Florida in 2016. She has a love and passion for animals, which gave her the determination to open United Dog Rescue with her son. They continue to own and operate it today. Doris came on board with Dr. Carpenter and his team in 2022 to pursue her desire for knowledge and experience in a specialized field. She is so blessed to have found such a wonderful team to pursue this desire!
Krystal was born in Miami county and raised in Broward Country, She’s the youngest child. Krystal has done JROTC since she was 10 and quickly learned how to take on leadership and responsibility. She has been working since she was 15 years old. From there she never stopped growing, learning and became manager of most of her jobs. Krystal has always been around animals her whole life, her first pet was a rabbit and from there she has had cats, dogs, and rabbits her whole life. Krystal joined SVC in October of 2022.
Krystal is a wife and mom of two children, Mia, and Mason, also dog mom of 5 dogs, Belle, Luna, Sky, Thor, and Rose. In her free time, she spends it with her family, travels to Tampa and tries to see new hidden places in Florida.
