Dr. Austin Keith Ray attended the University of California at San Diego for his undergraduate studies, earning a degree in General Biology.

He earned his veterinary degree at the University of California at Davis in 1999. Dr. Ray came back to San Diego in 1999 to do his internship at Coastal Emergency Animal Hospital in Vista, CA working under our very own Dr. Hoolihan.  Dr. Ray worked from 2004 to 2020 as an emergency veterinarian at the VCA Kearny Mesa Specialty Hospital. Dr. Ray is excited to bring his emergency and surgical skills to general practice by joining the team here at Peñasquitos Pet Clinic. 

He will be serving as our Medical Director and hopes to eventually join Dr. Hoolihan's ownership team.  Dr. Ray's special interests include emergency trauma, emergency surgery, and toxicology.

In his free time Dr. Ray can be found enjoying the company of his wife, two young girls, dog Wrigley and cats Jack and Sally. 

Penasquitos Pet Clinic is excited to introduce our new veterinarian Dr. Nicole Picht!  She will be joining Dr. Ray and Dr. Hoolihan to provide two doctor a day availability here at the clinic and improve our ability to provide our clients the personal attention  and time they deserve!  She will be seeing appointments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Come and meet her!  Her resume is quite impressive, so we are truly excited to have her on board here at PQ Pet!

Dr. Nicole Picht is a native Californian having grown up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. She attended Oregon State University and earned her Bachelor of Science majoring in Animal Sciences, graduating in just 3 years. Her love of horses spurred her interest in veterinary medicine and took her all the way to Texas A&M University, Gig ‘em Aggies. She graduated with honors from Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006. 

Following graduation from veterinary school, Dr. Picht completed two years of rigorous internship training at a private specialty hospital in Orlando, Florida. During these years she spent time working with a variety of veterinary specialities including Internal Medicine, Surgery, Neurology, and Radiology. Her love of the west coast finally brought her home in 2008 when she completed a focused surgical internship at Veterinary Specialty Hospital right here in San Diego. This year was spent working directly with the surgeons learning advanced surgical techniques and honing her surgical skills. She enjoys all types of surgery, but has a special interest in oncologic surgery and wound management/reconstruction.  

The lure of beautiful, sunny San Diego stuck and Dr. Picht has been general practice here since she finished her internship. She enjoys working collaboratively with owners to help educate them about the care and treatment of their four-legged family members. In addition to her love of surgery, she has a particular fondness for our feline patients and can be found snuggling them as often as possible.

Dr. Picht lives right here in Rancho Penasquitos with her husband, Dennis, and their two children. They share their home with a cat, Doyle, and two dogs, Boss and Georgia. When not at work, Dr. Picht enjoys running, gardening, and exploring San Diego's amazing cuisine. 

Dr. Tracy Wu-Woods graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2015, after which she furthered her training by completing a year-long small animal medicine and surgery internship at Friendship Animal Hospital, a busy emergency, specialty, and general practice hospital in Washington D.C.

Dr. Wu-Woods then moved back to Philadelphia where she worked as a small animal emergency veterinarian before she transitioned into general practice! In 2019 Dr. Wu-Woods was brought to San Diego after her husband, Daniel, found a new job here. Together, along with their two cats, Barbara and Shemalee, they took the leap across the country and she has continued in general practice caring for the cats and dogs of the west coast! She has special interests in wellness and preventative medicine, internal medicine, and general soft tissue surgery.

In her free time, Dr. Wu-Woods enjoys traveling, eating, decorating her home, watching movies, spending time with friends, and spending time outdoors with her husband hiking, golfing, going to the beach, and enjoying their new home in San Diego.

Dr. Christopher Hoolihan is a 4th generation native San Diegan.  He is a 1988 graduate of Point Loma High School and he went on to graduate from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor's Degree in Comparative Literature and a Minor in Music in 1992. 

Dr. Hoolihan earned his veterinary degree from the University of California, Davis in 1997.  He completed a rotating internship in Emergency and Critical Care/Internal Medicine/Cardiology and Surgery at Southpaws Veterinary Referral Center in Virginia in 1998.  From 1998 to 2007, Dr. Hoolihan predominantly practiced veterinary emergency medicine in San Diego, with a brief stint as a resident in cardiology in Los Angeles, before moving into general practice. 

He was the Medical Director there until April 2020, having stayed on after selling the practice in 2019.  Dr. Hoolihan and his wife sold PBVC in 2019 and he stayed on as Medical Director until April 2020.

Dr. Hoolihan and Dr. Sprouse had known each other through his emergency work in Kearny Mesa and had developed a friendship at area meetings.  When the opportunity came up to buy Dr. Sprouse's highly respected practice here at Peñasquitos Pet Clinic, he jumped at the opportunity. 

Dr. Hoolihan has been happily married to the love of his life, Shana, since 1993.  They have three children: Emily (25) who is a Cantorial student in NYC; Bailey (22) who lives in Boulder, CO, and is preparing for Law School following graduation from the University of Colorado; and Rebekah (18) who is attending the University of California, Davis, following in the family tradition (Shana is a 1992 grad!). 

The Hoolihan's live in Carlsbad with two dogs- Tess, a 9 year old Lab mix and Gretyl a 16 year old mini Dachshund and three cats- Legolas 13, Marius 7 and Wesley 1.  Dr. Hoolihan is an avid golfer and wine collector and loves to travel in his RV.