Meet Our Team

Dr. Kandra L. Jones, DVM

Dr. Kandra Jones is a Jacksonville native. She graduated from the University of Florida in 1974 and continued her education at Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine where she graduated in the top 3% of her class in 1978. She established Mandarin Veterinary Clinic in 1985. Her pursuit of excellence in the treatment of small animals, utilization of the latest technology and standards of care have placed Mandarin Veterinary Clinic among the top 12% of hospitals in the United States as certified by the American Animal Hospital Association meeting the most rigid standards of care and treatment of small animals.

The Clinic has won 1st place in the Regional Dental Awareness Program every year since 2004. Dr. Jones’s primary specialties are in the areas of internal medicine, dermatology, and dentistry. She donates time to local pet charities and participates in spay-neuter programs to control pet overpopulation as well as organizing and leading two spay-neuter projects in the Bahamas.

Dr. Jones has served on the State of Florida Board of Veterinary Medicine since 1988 and is Chairperson of its Committee on Standards of Care. Further, she is a member of the American Animal Hospital Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Florida Veterinary Medical Association, and the Jacksonville Veterinary Medical Society.

Dr. Taylor M. Bernardo, DVM

Dr. Taylor Bernardo was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where she spent her middle and high school years volunteering with animals. She became passionate about veterinary medicine and pursued a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Sciences at the University of Florida.  She then moved to the small Caribbean Island of Grenada, to attend St. George’s University, School of Veterinary Medicine. After graduating in June of 2020, Dr. Bernardo went on to pursue an additional year of training as a Small Animal Rotating Intern at Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. During her Internship, she focused on Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Orthopedic and Soft Tissue Surgery. Her appreciation for Preventative Care and continued desire to grow finally lead Dr. Bernardo to Mandarin Veterinary Clinic in August of 2021!

Her current areas of interest include Dermatology, Oncology and Cardiology. Outside of the Hospital, Dr. Bernardo enjoys going to the beach, going to the gym, hiking and doting on her two cats with her fiancé. She looks forward to becoming more involved in both the veterinary and local community as she settles into the Jacksonville area.

Jennie Gagnon, Hospital Administrator

Jennie has been working with us since October of 2000. She was born and raised in Ocala and moved to Jacksonville in 1999 to attend the University of North Florida. In 2003, she graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice but decided to stay at Mandarin Veterinary Clinic and follow her passion for animals. Jennie is a proud Navy wife and a devoted mother to her three children Dakota, Connor, and Randie.

Jennie’s areas of responsibility encompass veterinary practice administration, operational plans, training of staff, funds and resource management, data automation, staffing, safety and security, and the review/evaluation/analysis of the past performance of the practice.  Jennie strives to effectively use all available resources to provide the best possible patient care to animals treated by the hospital.  She understands the critical balance between the administrative and clinical functions in the veterinary health care delivery system and possesses the ability to coordinate and control programs and resources to achieve this balance.

Jennie enjoys camping, fishing, boating, swimming and spending time outdoors with her family.  She also enjoys cooking, reading and taking naps!  Jennie and her family have an English Pointer, Duke, and three cats, Binks, Jabba and Gremlin.

Libby Murphy, Administrative Assistant

Libby initially joined Mandarin Veterinary Clinic in 2006 and worked for us until 2013. She left for a few years to attend FSCJ to pursue a degree. She graduated with honors and received her AA. Afterwards, Libby excitedly rejoined Mandarin Veterinary Clinic in 2019.

She grew up in El Paso, Texas and moved to Tallahassee, Florida after graduating high school. She eventually moved to Jacksonville in 2006. She has 4 grown children, three sons, Tom, Scott, and Jamie, and one daughter, Samantha. She has 6 grandchildren, Adrian, Gabriella, Payton, Brycelyn, Samantha, and Santiago.  Libby also has one dog Snoopy, a chihuahua mix.

Libby wears two hats working for Mandarin Veterinary Clinic. She is lead receptionist and is often the first smiling face that greets you when you bring your pet to the clinic or just come in for a question. She is also one of the friendly voices you hear on the phone when you call the clinic. She helps keep track of your furry family members’ appointments and reminders. She helps all of us remember that this practice is focused on the care of your family members, and as such, we want everyone to feel comfortable and welcome inside our doors

Libby also assists the hospital administrator by answering and directing phone calls and by organizing and scheduling business appointments and meetings. She also helps with all correspondences; printing regularly scheduled reports and she maintains the filing system.

When Libby isn’t working, she enjoys spending time with her family and watching college football. GO FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES! She also has a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo

Shannon Menke, Lead Nurse

Shannon was born and raised in Edina, Minnesota. In 2004, she made the move to Jacksonville, Florida and started at the University of North Florida. She graduated from UNF in 2007 with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Social Welfare. While attending school, she worked as a veterinary technician gaining experience assisting doctors with surgeries, emergency situations, patient exams, laboratory tests and many other aspects of veterinary medicine.

Shannon’s passion has always been working with and helping animals, so in February 2016, she gladly accepted the position as a lead nurse at Mandarin Veterinary Clinic. She is ready and eager to assist Dr. Jones and continue her career in the veterinary field.

When not at work, Shannon enjoys spending time with friends, going to the pool, hiking and being outside as much as possible enjoying the Florida sunshine. If not outside, she’s usually enjoying some quiet time watching a movie or reading. She also spends a lot of time cheering on FSU, her favorite team, GO NOLES!! She has 3 four-legged family members at home: Mac, a Lab mix, and two cats Moose and Cleo (aka Kitten).

Sierra Middleton, Veterinary Nurse

Sierra was born and raised in Jacksonville. She graduated with her Associate of Arts in the Fall of 2021 and hopes to further her education in the future. She loves working with animals and aspires to become a veterinarian one day. Growing up, she was surrounded by many animals and became passionate in caring for them.

Sierra happily owns a dog, two cats and two ferrets. She enjoys going to the dog park with Gus, because it is fun to watch him run, swim and play with other dogs. She also has three aquariums filled with bettas, dojo loaches, glass catfish, shrimp and snails. She also enjoys to garden, but since she lives in an apartment most of her plants are in pots. She looks forwards to coming to work and helping the animals, each one holds a special place in her heart.

Brennan Chandler, Veterinary Nurse

Brennan was born in Alabama and raised in Alford, FL. She will graduate with her A.A. in Animal Science in the Fall of 2023. She has always had a passion for animals even before she could walk. With her godmother being a Veterinarian, Brennan always knew from early on in life that her goal in life, was to work with animals.

Brennan has two dogs, Ash a German Shepherd, and Izz a Bullmastiff mix. She was a dog groomer for 3 years and continues to do so on her days off. If she is not spending her free time with her two dogs and new foster, she is spending it going to the local animal shelters to give love to the animals in need there

Shannon McLaughlin, Receptionist

Shannon has worked at Mandarin Veterinary clinic since March 2002. She works hard at maintaining the patient files, stocking supplies and ensuring that the pet waiting rooms are clean and comfortable for our four-legged clients. Shannon has overcome many obstacles in her life, one of which is being born with cerebral palsy. This has not prevented her from achieving many lifelong goals. With the help of her co-workers and job coach, she has realized her primary goal of working with animals.

In addition to working at Mandarin Veterinary Clinic, Shannon also enjoys competitive swimming, karate, YMCA exercise, cheering on the FSU football team and spending time with family and friends.

Cadie, Veterinary Receptionist

Cadie grew up in Jacksonville Fl. She moved to Middleburg with her family in 1996 and attended Middleburg high school. Cadie has 3 kids, twin girls that are 13 and a son that is 8 years old. She also has 2 dogs and 4 cats. Every client and patient that comes into our clinic is greeted with a smile by Cadie. She tries to make sure they are as comfortable as possible when they come to the clinic and assures them that they will be cared for by our staff.

Cadie joined our team in 2022. She says, “Since I was little, I’ve known that I want animals to be a part of my career.” Her goal is to make sure that every client knows that we are doing everything in our power to keep their animals healthy and happy while they are here with us.

In her spare time, Cadie likes to hang out with her kids playing board games. She is a self proclaimed “Home Body”.