Dr. Kari Jenkins Bechler joined the Animal Hospital of Towne Lake team as an Emergency Veterinarian in January 2024. She started in the veterinary profession almost 30 years ago working as a kennel assistant in an animal shelter. She worked as a receptionist, veterinary assistant, technician, and manager before attending Veterinary School. Dr. Jenkins Bechler has graduated from Palm Beach State College, Florida Atlantic University, and North Carolina State University with degrees in Chemistry, Biology, and Animal Science. She spent 14 months at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine in Small and Large Animal Clinics. Dr. Jenkins completed an externship at the Louisiana Veterinary Referral Center with a focus on Internal Medicine and Emergency/Critical Care. She graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in January 2010. She was medical director for a 3-location practice including a 24-hour location from 2013 to 2019 in Savannah, Georgia. During COVID, she helped cover positions at day practices, shot clinics, and emergency clinics as well as started her mobile practice.   Dr. Jenkins Bechler enjoys working with all types of animals to keep them happy and healthy.  This includes cats, dogs, small mammals, exotics, small livestock, and friends with scales or feathers. In cases of illness or injury, she strives to get your pets back on their feet, no matter how many they happen to have. Her areas of special interest are internal medicine, emergency/critical care, and ophthalmology.

Outside the clinic, Dr. Jenkins Bechler can be found on her farm with her husband, Curtis, their daughters Arabella and Hannah, and her dad, Ed.  There they manage cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, ducks, and pheasants along with the family cat, dogs, parrot, hedgehog, and even an owl.