Meet the Team

Dr. Gary A. Pope
Owner/DVM

Dr. Pope was raised on a farm in Maryland. He is a 1971 graduate of the University of Georgia and joined Viewmont Animal Hospital after graduation. He is on the Board of Directors of the NC Small Animal Academy and also a member of The American, North Carolina and Piedmont Veterinary Medical Associations. Dr. Pope lives in Bethlehem with his wife Carolyn, 1 dog, 3 cats, and 4 Tennessee walking horses. His interests include riding, snow skiing and lake activities.

Dr. Melody Heath
DVM

Dr. Melody Heath grew up on a cattle farm in Virginia. She received her veterinary degree from Virginia Tech in 1993. She joined Viewmont Animal Hospital in 2003 and is currently a part-time associate. Dr. Heath resides in Bethlehem with her husband, Brian, three children, and a menagerie of animals. She enjoys gardening, writing, and traveling.

Dr. Kathy Frye
DVM

Dr. Frye is originally from South Georgia.  She worked in the veterinary field for about ten years prior to attending veterinary school.  She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2013. Dr. Frye has always had a special affinity for cats and enjoys treating all felines, even the most precocious.  Besides feline medicine, Dr. Frye enjoys working with fearful and aggressive dogs, animals with behavioral issues and wildlife. She is a member of the AVMA, NCVMA, AAFP and is Fear Free certified.  Her hobbies include reading and dancing. She shares her home with eight cats.

Dr. Valleri Reames
DVM

Dr. Reames was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in North Carolina but attended veterinary school at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.  She graduated in 1982 and returned to the southern states, working at a small animal practice in Lynchburg, VA before buying Eno Animal Hospital in Durham, NC in 1988.  In addition to owning and working in her small animal practice, Dr. Reames was the chief veterinarian of the Carnivore Preservation Trust in Pittsboro. There she treated tigers, leopards, jaguars, and a host of other rare and endangered animals.   Later, she was the veterinarian during the early years of The Conservator's Center, an offshoot of the Carnivore Preservation Trust

Dr. Reames sold her practice in 2011 and continued working there part-time for a year.  After a four-month hiatus in Hawaii, she returned to North Carolina and settled in the foothills in Collettsville.  She worked as an emergency veterinarian at the Veterinary Referral Hospital of Hickory for 5 years before joining the staff at Viewmont Animal Hospital.

When she is not providing medical and surgical care for our patients, you may find Dr. Reames on her small farm, taking care of sheep, working on the restoration of her 120-year-old farmhouse, or fishing and foraging in the John's River and Wilson's Creek area.  Violet, the dog, and Ziva, the cat, help around the house and barn.