Staff

Trinity Cook

Trinity Cook started as a small animal caretaker in late 2021. She next held the position of Team Leader and took on a more leadership role. Today, Trinity is a Senior Animal Caretaker and helps supervise the daily care for the small animal facility. Trinity is almost finished with her schooling to become a License Veterinary Technician. Once she gets her LVT license, she will be assisting Dr. Christine in our on site clinic doing medical protocols, assisting in spay/neuter surgeries, and doing dentals.

Tyler Maxam

Tyler Maxam started in mid 2020 as a large animal caretaker. Tyler learned a lot about horse and farm animal care quickly. He also does a lot of facility maintenence around the farm. Tyler was promoted to Senior Animal Care for Large animals and assists our barn manager Taylor with the daily operations of the barn and also facility management.

Christine Schneider, DVM, cVMA, CHPV

Dr. Christine Schneider joined Spring Farm CARES in January 2021. As Director of Animal Welfare, she is in charge of the oversight and care of all of the animals in the sanctuary. Besides medical care, she also oversees enrichment for the animals as well as all policies and procedures for their care. We are so excited to welcome Dr. Christine!

Dr. Christine Schneider was born and raised on Long Island, NY.  She attended Manhattan College and graduated with a degree in Biology.  Dr. Schneider moved to upstate New York after graduating from Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012 where she spent 8 years working for a mixed animal practice.  She became certified in veterinary medical acupuncture in 2019. In 2022, she completed over 100 hours of continuing education to become certified in hospice and palliative care.

Dr. Schneider has always had a passion for animal rescue.  She participates in the Animal Cruelty Task Force (Otsego County) and has a hobby farm full of rescued pigs, goats, donkeys and cows.  When not working, Dr. Schneider enjoys spending time with her husband, hiking with her dogs, and relaxing in warm climates.

Dr. Schneider’s connection to the Spring Farm CARES mission as well as her background, skills, and interests all combine to be a huge asset for the SFC animals and our organization as a whole.

Taylor Kruger

Taylor started working for us in 2014 as a Large Animal Caretaker. At the time, Taylor was totally new to horses, farm animals, and farm machinery. But Taylor’s nurturing way with the animals served him and the animals very well. Taylor’s work and dedication over the years earned him his current position as Barn Manager where he manages the large animal caretaking staff, oversees the daily care of the large animals, as well as overseeing projects to be done around the farm.

We are happy to have Taylor as a part of our team.

Jessica Vetter

Jessica started working for us in 2013 as a small animal caretaker. Her skills of working with the animals and people earned her a promotion to Senior Animal Caretaker where she supervises the daily operations in our small animal facility.

Jessica also came to us with a background in Graphic Arts and now also works several days a week in our office helping Director Dawn Hayman with special projects. We are thrilled to be able to tap into Jessica’s creative talents as well as her animal skills. We are very excited to have Jessica be an important part of our animal care and office team.

Margaret G. Brown, CPA

Margaret G. (Peg) Brown comes to Spring Farm CARES with a dedication to furthering our mission into the next generation. Peg has always had a deep connection with animals and has been a lifelong animal advocate, working with numerous charitable animal organizations, all of which led her here to SFC.

In addition to lending her expertise and years of experience to our bookkeeping and accounting needs, Peg also helps with Personnel management and joins Bonnie, Dawn, and Margot in the daily operations of our organization.

Her professional accomplishments are many and we are honored to have her working with us and bringing SFC forward on our mission. Peg is a graduate of State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome and also a graduate of State University of New York at Cortland where she earned Bachelor of Science degrees. In addition to being a Spring Farm CARES board member, Peg is a board member for the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the SUNY Polytechnic College of Business Advisory Board. Peg is the President of Brown & Associates CPAs, P.C.

Margot B. Unkel, Ph.D.

Margot joined Bonnie and Dawn in the leadership of Spring Farm CARES in 1995. She taught recreation and park management at Texas A & M and Ithaca College, and was Assistant Research Professor at the University of Washington College of Forest Resources. She also put in time with IBM as a Systems Engineer, and with Boise Cascade as a Management Consultant. Along the way, she co-founded Service Dogs, Inc., in Oakland California, and Animals in Distress, a wildlife rehabilitation organization in Boise, Idaho. During an eight-year period she was a volunteer at the Idaho Humane Society, acting variously as treasurer, vice-President, and President, while also creating their computerized animal shelter management system, and writing important surveys. Spring Farm CARES lucked out when she joined our team.

Dawn E. Hayman

Dawn is one of the pioneers in the field of Animal Communication. She and Bonnie worked in partnership as TT.E.A.M. practitioners and professional hypnotists before founding Spring Farm CARES in 1991. Dawn has a B.S. in Social Work. She is author of ANIMAL WISDOM FOR MANKIND, co-author of the Spring Farm CARES biography IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK: The Miracles of Spring Farm, and a contributing author in several other books and periodicals. Her work has been featured in many magazines such as Practical Horseman and Equus, as well as many other publications over the years. Dawn has been a professional animal communicator, doing consultations and teaching, since 1987. She has consulted with more than 50,000 animals and brings that vast knowledge and experience with her in her teaching and writing. You can find more information about Dawn, her consultations and workshops, and many of the messages given to her by our animals, on the Animal Communication page.

Bonnie Jones Reynolds

Raised on Spring Farm, Bonnie pursued successful careers in dancing, then modeling, then acting. She appeared on stage, including Broadway, and in TV shows like M*A*S*H. She is also the author of best selling novels THE TRUTH ABOUT UNICORNS and THE CONFETTI MAN, the yoga textbook BIKRAM’S BEGINNING YOGA CLASS, now in its 27th year in print, and co-author of the Spring Farm CARES biography IF ONLY THEY COULD TALK: The Miracles of Spring Farm, and The Magdalen.

Karissa Marquissee

Kerissa joined our Nature Sanctuary team in early 2024. She earned a Wildlife Biology Degree and the University of Maine, and broadened her knowledge, studying a combination of wildlife management, ecology, wetland sciences, marine biology, as we as fish and avian species identification. She has participated in conservation education and local zoos and has shadowed Maine Fish and Wildlife (DEC). Her passion for wildlife started and a very young age and has led her to Spring Farm CARES.

Natalie “Nat” Hill Levin

Alyssa Wisehart

Matt Perry

Matt Perry is Spring Farm CARES’ Conservation Director and nature sanctuary manager. He is recognized throughout the region as an authority on wild birds, their habitat and behavior. Among his specialties are neo-tropical songbirds and Peregrine Falcons. He also has an extensive knowledge of beavers and the flora and fauna that inhabit the wetlands that beavers create.

At the nature sanctuary, Matt has been the Resident Naturalist since 1999. Since then he’s overseen habitat restoration projects including an ambitious reforestation project and a native wildflower/herb restoration project.

In recent years Matt has written dozens of articles about his experiences with wildlife at the nature sanctuary. These have been published in Mohawk Valley Living Magazine. Matt is also a regional editor of The Kingbird, which is a quarterly journal published by The New York State Ornithological Association. Matt is a popular speaker and presenter and has given many wildlife presentations to community organizations and schools throughout Central New York.

Becca Laurenzo

Nancy Herrick

Nancy is our newest member of our Management staff, joining our team in 2017. We are blessed to have found Nancy just as Karen, our office manager for the past 19 years, retired. Nancy says that finding Spring Farm CARES feels like coming home. We feel the same and are happy to welcome her home.

Nancy grew up on a Morgan horse farm in Hamilton and was surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes. She has a BS in Equine Science from Colorado State University. She brings with her experience in both medical and veterinary offices and enjoys working with people and helping others solve problems.

Nancy spent the last 15 years managing the breeding activities as well as office duties for a large animal veterinary practice. She brings with her wonderful horse knowledge and skills as well as office skills and stepped into a new position here at Spring Farm that feels like she has been here for years. Nancy not only takes calls, emails, and answers mail among all her other tasks of keeping our office running smoothly, but she also helps out with the medical records and daily medical treatment sheets for our horses. We welcome Nancy and look forward to a lot of years ahead together.