Dr. Claudia Sheppard grew up in Germany and completed part of her veterinary school training there. After attending vet school in Hanover, Germany, she transferred to Purdue University and graduated with her DVM in 1994. She also earned an MS in parasitology at Purdue in 1995. She practiced in a surgical-referral small animal practice in Frankfurt, Germany after graduation, and then relocated to Chapel Hill in 1997 when her husband Scott accepted a job in RTP. 

While working part-time in a small animal veterinary practice, Dr. Claudia also volunteered at her local shelter. That’s where she discovered her passion for shelter medicine. Soon she her volunteer work turned into a position there. Many pets that arrive at shelters are too sick or injured to be adopted. With her surgical skills, Dr. Claudia found she was able to help many rescue animals. After treating them, watching them get well, and seeing them find their forever home is deeply rewarding.

To further help her pet patients, Dr. Claudia has become Fear Free Certified® – so she recognizes and knows the steps to take to reduce the fear, anxiety and stress some pets experience with vet hospital visits. 

Dr. Claudia feels that it is a tremendous privilege to be part of HARC and to use her skills to help even more rescues. Dr. Claudia’s skills from shelter medicine and private practice have prepared her well for HARC. She looks forward to helping even more rescued animals. She will also provide individualized care when working with rescue organizations and their foster families, pursuing practical solutions to help foster patients become adoptable and find their forever homes.

Dr. Claudia has two college-aged daughters, Nadia and Anja, and a husband who is an engineer and works in research. Her two dogs are Trudy and Ziggy, both adopted from animal shelters. Trudy is a Dachshund mix and enjoys hiking and the outdoors. Ziggy is a Poodle mix who was not treated well is his previous life. With a lot of patience and some help from Trudy, he has made tremendous progress. Dr. Claudia’s family enjoys camping, hiking, travel, and board games. As an avid traveler, she has volunteered as a veterinarian with Mission Rabies in Malawi and India as well as World Veterinary Services in Thailand. And if you speak German, Dr. Claudia will be happy to converse with you in German!