Emily Shepherd

Emily grew up in Ballinafad, Ontario with a love for “all furry and furless babies, big and small”. After years of failed efforts to convince her parents to get a “house hippo”, as soon as she moved out she promptly adopted skinny pigs Ocho (an “old” piggy that nobody wanted) and Baby Kirby. In search of a dog after having to leave her family chi chi mixes at home, Emily also adopted Ripley, who DNA testing revealed to be a mix of 15 different breeds (including mastiff!), but who looks like a Staffy/Lab mix, with the attitude of a Sharpei. Ripley is gentle with little animals including Baby Kirby (who was her favourite little guy before he passed) and cats, and she loves her laser pointer, exploring the country, and going on car rides. 
 
Ripley is the whole reason Emily got into the animal care field – she worried that Ripley wasn’t getting enough attention or proper socialization so she quit her office job and became a dog walker/driver, so they could spend their days together playing with other dogs and going on car rides. After doing that for a couple of years, Emily became a care worker and adoption agent in an animal shelter, to expand her knowledge. She learned a ton about canine, feline, pocket animal, and reptile behaviour, training, and care, but still didn’t have full exposure to the medical side. That’s what brought Emily to our Roncy team, for the next step in her animal care career. In her own words, “The staff is amazing and super knowledgeable answering any and all of my questions. I have learned so much since starting here, and I look forward to learning more every day!"