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The staff at the Shaughnessy Veterinary Hospital is made up of very dedicated people that truly love animals and their jobs. Dr. Leah is a member of the British Columbia and Canadian Veterinary Medical Associations. On full-time staff is a Registered Animal Health Technician (RAHT), who has been specially trained in monitoring anesthesia, among other skills. All the members of the team keep up to date with continuing education seminars and courses.

Our Hospital Team

• Dr. Leah Montgomery, DVM
• Jan Werger, RAHT
• Sheri Charan, VOA
• Donna Walker, Receptionist
• Chance, our "in-house" kitty

Dr. Leah is proud to call Vancouver home, being one of the few veterinarians in the area who was actually born here!

Dr. Leah attended the University of British Columbia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, then suffered four harsh winters in Saskatoon at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. She managed not to get frost bitten (although her car did freeze completely for three days!) and moved back to the beautiful West Coast in 1995.

Dr. Leah began practice at the Granville Island Veterinary Hospital but after five years she decided it was time for a change. She moved to Coquitlam and began practice at the Shaughnessy Veterinary Hospital. In April 2001 she purchased the Hospital from Dr. Kassam and is enjoying both the practice and the management side of veterinary medicine.

Between spaying cats and vaccinating dogs, Dr. Leah manages to find time to snowboard in the winter and rip up the trails on her mountain bike year-round.

And she is the mother to two fur-babies - her cats named Armley and Chinela. "I love dogs!" she protests. "But with my crazy schedule, cats are easier to care for. I am "Auntie" to all the dogs that come through the hospital doors. The best part is I get to give them back!", she says with a grin. top

Jan Werger, Registered Animal Health Technician (RAHT) Jan currently hails from the wilds of Whonnock where she spends her off-time tending her garden and trying to convince her canine helper, Leisja, that burying a milk bone will NOT grow a milk bone tree, no matter how well fertilized. Jan graduated from the University College of the Cariboo's Animal Health Technology program in 1996. After graduation she worked with Dr. Dennis Jackson at the Granville Island Veterinary Hospital. In 1998 she expanded her horizons to Port Coquitlam, joining the team at the Shaughnessy Veterinary Hospital. Jan has a passion for all things furred and four-legged; her own family includes her gardening companion Leisja, two cats Monkey and Oops, and three guinea pigs. Clementine and Charlotte are the young girl piggies and she has a older dignified gentleman named Gilbert. Jan recently adopted a Belgian Shepherd named VooDoo who does a good job of terrorizing the cats and digging up trees in her back yard. top

Sheri Charan, VOA Sheri joined the team at Shaughnessy veterinary hosptial in February 2003. Born and raised in Vancouver, Sheri ventured out into Port Coquitlam in November 2002.  Along with her Rottweiler "Ice Man" her Black Lab X "Blue" and her newly rescued Rotti X "Jordan", Sheri traveled even further east where the dogs found a new "bigger" backyard in Mission B.C. Since 2003, Sheri has added to her home her cats, "Raffy" and "Aanyah", and her fiance Stephen (he's a human!) - who encouraged two more felines "Gambit" and "Rogue". If Sheri is not too busy trying to stop the Ice man from digging out her fruit trees or eating magic mushrooms, you can find her at the local lakes/trails playing video games with her new husband or painting and her newest hobby gardening. top

Donna Walker, Receptionist Donna was born and raised in a small farming community in Manitoba. After surviving 20 Manitoba winters she relocated to beautiful B.C. Donna claims that home sickness was never a problem as half of Manitoba was all ready living here! Since moving to Port Coquitlam in 1980, Donna has married and raised 3 great kids. As her maternal need for "more" continued, she got her first kitten in 1995 (Sasha) follwed by Meg a year later. Her desire to care for more "babies" continued to grow, hence the comming of Luke her canine companion. Luke is the only dog that thinks going to the Vet for his monthly anal gland squeeze is a treat! Since joining the staff in 1998 she has aquired two more feline friends Zac and Simon, both rescue kittens. Donna's husband is adamant that their house IS full! Her husband (the soft-hearted) obviously didn't do a good enough job saying her house was full, because recently Donna got a new kitten! Her name is Zoey and she's maybe 4 weeks old, found in a box with her the rest of the litter. In her spare time (HA!) Donna loves to paint, do wood crafts, garden and read. top

Chance's Story Chance (as in second chance) is one of those sad hard luck kitties that veterinary professionals come across all too often. The year was 2000, the time early spring. One day a very pathetic looking, skinny, flea- and worm-ridden black and white cat was literally dumped on our doorstep. He was completely paralyzed in his back end, covered in dirt, feces and urine, had several open infected wounds, and to top it all off, some cruel person had cut all his whiskers off.

Dr. Leah took one look at this sad excuse for a cat and the cat looked up at her with his big yellow eyes - the rest is, as they say, history. There was just something in his eyes - his spirit shining through - and Dr. Leah saw past his injuries as he communicated to her his desire to live.

After consulting with the rest of the hospital team, Dr. Leah agreed to give the little guy a chance (hence his name). An x-ray was taken of his back but no broken bones were found. He was neutered, tattooed for identification, had his parasites treated, and received physiotherapy several times daily to increase his muscle strength.

After about a month, Chance had gained enough strength that he was able to hold his upper body off the floor and was showing some movement in his tail and toes. He was getting so strong that he was starting to move around the hospital, dragging his back end behind him. Since he really couldn't use a litter box, the girls would follow him around with a mop cleaning up his "accidents". It was soon obvious that he needed a diaper. A trip to the store resulted in a purchase of newborn size 1's for him. We cut a hole for his tail and it worked ... custom kitty diapers!

As Chance became more mobile, a second problem became evident. The friction created as he dragged his hind legs was causing open sores on his knees - so one of the members of the hospital team designed special "jeans" for him to protect his legs. He has several pairs, and even has a pair of red pants that go with his Santa hat for Christmas!

Then in the summer of 2001, Chance became the lucky owner of a kitty "wheelchair"!

He now zo-o-o-oms around the hospital, greeting everyone as the enter, keeping an eye on all our patients and generally charming all who meet him.

He has even been featured in the Tri-City News!

Chance continues to improve, gaining strength and moving his legs and tail more as time goes by. While we have never lost hope that one day he might be able to walk, for now he seems very content in his position of floor sweeper and keeper of the cat treats. He has a huge fan club, many of who stop in just to say "hi" to him... the kitty who got a second chance!

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