Dr. Dirk Yelinek

Dr. Yelinek is a 1984 graduate of The Ohio State University. He grew up in Massachusetts and has been practicing in Southern California for over 25 years.

Dr. Yelinek practices conventional veterinary medicine and surgery as well as having an interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); acupuncture and herbs, and Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy or "chiropractic."

He is employed by the federal government as Deputy Team Commander of the National Veterinary Response Team-4 (NVRT-4) of the Western United States region. This team is comprised of individuals with a wide variety of professional backgrounds with one common goal -- -to support the veterinary community and animal welfare interests in times of regional and national disasters when local resources are overwhelmed.  As first responders these team members join in the common goal of helping when help is needed most.

NVRT responders provide veterinary medical treatment and address animal and public health issues resulting from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes, plane crashes, bombings, animal disease epidemics, foreign animal disease surveillance and destruction from terrorism.  The goal of the NVRT is to provide a coordinated, cooperative animal relief effort between local, state, and federal officials, local and state veterinary associations, humane groups, emergency management personnel, and as requested services for FBI, Secret Service, United States Military, American Red Cross and search and rescue dogs.  The NVRT is deployed directly by the federal government and is one of several branches of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) under the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) within the Department of Homeland Security.  NVRT team members all participate in extensive academic and field training to assure preparedness in responding to disasters.  Subjects include timely veterinary topics as well as techniques for preserving our Nation’s food and water supply and mitigating biological and radiological threats in a crisis situation.

Dr. Leah Taylor

Dr. Taylor is our newest addition to the Redondo Shores Veterinary Center Team. She is originally from South Dakota where she was born and raised. From there, Dr. Taylor earned her Bachelors degree in International Relations from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. She then spent several years working on various community service projects before applying to veterinary school at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Through veterinary school she had the opportunity to work with a veterinary dermatologist and has continued to enjoy dermatology cases of all kinds. Her other interests include nutrition, and feline medicine. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, spending time outdoors, and playing with her two Burmese cats, Simon and Reese.