What You Don't Know About Pop My Pet's Dr. Jackie Dueñas

Pop My Pet is the latest special coming to Discovery+, and you can say we're howling and purring with excitement. Spotlighting three veterinarians as they race to save their furry patients' lives, the adrenaline-pumping one-hour special is addictive and adorable in equal measure. One of the veterinarians featured is Dr. Jackie Dueñas, a Miami-based vet who gives serious girl power vibes. While the other vets featured on Pop My Pet are based in less tropical climates, Dr. Dueñas operates on alligators (via The Futon Critic), so you can say she's definitely a boss.

Dr. Dueñas began working at the dynamic Sunset Animal Clinic in 2017, but the young vet has always been a "true Miami girl" at heart, born and raised in the sunny city, per Sunset Animal Clinic. An associate veterinarian at the practice, Dueñas is obsessed with the doggies she treats -– regularly posting snaps with man's best friend on her Instagram – and "has always had a passion and a calling to care for animals." 

The veterinarian's love for her work shows in everything she does, from operating on Pumpkin, a rescue dog suffering from a supersize mass, to diving into GatorLand to operate on an alligator named Predator, per Discovery. Whether at the fast-paced clinic or swamp-side, Dr. Dueñas has always known what she wanted in life. In fact, she "takes great pride in having fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian."

Dr. Dueñas traveled far to achieve her dream of being a vet, jetting off to the island of St. Kitts to attend Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine right after graduating with a Bachelor's degree from Florida International University. Once she finished her studies, she moved back to the Sunshine State to attend the University of Florida for a year and then started her career, per Sunset Animal Clinic. She's never looked back! And just like Pop My Pet focuses on animals' lumps, tumors, and cysts, Dr. Dueñas is particularly interested in soft tissue surgery and emergency medicine –- such as Predator the Alligator's mysterious jaw lump.

When the veterinarian isn't out saving animals' lives, she loves to sit back and relax with her husband, Danny, read books to their son Jake, and play with their two dogs, Ripley and Penny. Never sitting still, Dr. Dueñas proves you really can have it all, but she admits the difficulties of the day-to-day. As she wrote on her Instagram, "merging my roles as a mother and as a veterinarian has been challenging. As vet mommas we are faced with the difficulty of balancing our family's needs and our work expectations." That being said, the fierce veterinarian has found that balance, and is living life caring for her family and cute patients.