Our team
Board-certified. Fear Free. San Diego-local.
Our veterinarians and technicians bring specialist-level training to a neighborhood practice — so your pet gets academic-center expertise without the commute.
After-hours emergency? Call (619) 555-0199 — we partner with San Diego Emergency Vet, open 24/7.
Our team
Our veterinarians and technicians bring specialist-level training to a neighborhood practice — so your pet gets academic-center expertise without the commute.
Veterinarians
Founder & Medical Director
Dr. Sarah Harlow founded Harlow Animal Hospital in 2009 after fourteen years of private practice, driven by a vision of veterinary care that felt as warm and personal as a family doctor visit. A California native, she completed her DVM at UC Davis and went on to earn her Diplomate status in Internal Medicine through years of post-doctoral clinical work in the Bay Area before settling in San Diego. Her particular clinical focus is on complex internal medicine cases — endocrine disorders, immune-mediated diseases, and chronic kidney disease — but she remains deeply committed to the annual wellness relationship at the core of preventive care. She introduced Fear Free protocols to the clinic in 2014, three years before the certification formally existed. Dr. Harlow is a past president of the San Diego Veterinary Medical Association and an active partner with San Diego Humane Society, where she donates one clinic day per month to shelter medicine. On weekends she can be found walking the Mission Beach Boardwalk with Fig and Newton.
Internal Medicine
Dr. James Osei joined Harlow Animal Hospital in 2015 after completing his residency in internal medicine at Cornell and a two-year fellowship in diagnostic imaging at Ohio State. He is the clinic's ultrasound specialist — a skill he describes as equal parts science and art — and has built a regional reputation for catching cardiac and endocrine abnormalities early, when intervention is most effective. His MS thesis at Cornell focused on feline hyperthyroidism progression, and he continues to publish on the topic in peer-reviewed journals. Outside medicine, Dr. Osei keeps bees on his North Park property and says his three cats are, without question, more difficult to manage than the hives. He is a certified advanced cardiac life support provider for veterinary patients and teaches periodic CE courses at the local veterinary technician program.
Surgery
Dr. Priya Nair is a board-certified veterinary surgeon with a particular passion for making complex procedures accessible to pet owners who can't afford referral-hospital prices. She completed her surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania and spent five years at a specialty hospital in Los Angeles before Dr. Harlow recruited her to San Diego in 2018. Her surgical case mix at Harlow is intentionally diverse: routine spay/neuter, mass removals and biopsies, intestinal surgeries, bladder stone removal, and orthopedic procedures including TPLO and fracture repair. Her golden retriever Mango, who underwent a successful TPLO herself in 2021, is a living advertisement for her work and doubles as the unofficial clinic greeter when Dr. Nair brings her in. Dr. Nair is an active mentor for pre-vet students through the UC San Diego volunteer program.
Exotic Pet Specialist
Dr. Tomás Rivera is one of fewer than a dozen DABVP-certified avian practitioners in California, and San Diego exotic pet owners drive from as far as Riverside and Orange County to see him. He completed his exotic animal residency at UC Davis and returned to Southern California in 2016, joining Harlow Animal Hospital two years later when the clinic decided to formalize its exotic department rather than referring cases out. Dr. Rivera sees rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, ferrets, birds of all species, and a wide range of reptiles. He speaks openly about the underfunding of exotic animal veterinary education and volunteers with the San Diego wildlife rehabilitation network. His 14 guinea pigs — current residents include Coltrane, Monk, and Miles — are, he insists, extremely musical.
Support staff
Careers
We hire DVMs, veterinary technicians, and grooming staff who share our commitment to Fear Free care. Benefits include CE budget, medical, and two clinic dogs.
Send us your CVHarlow Animal Hospital · San Diego, CA
Drop by any weekday between 9am and 4pm and we'll give you a quick tour. No appointment needed.
