Veronica Connelly

Since 1998 I've been very active in pet rescue and animal rights. I've started and run two non-profit rescues from the ground up, saving, vetting and re-homing hundreds of domestic pets and livestock. I've been a speaker at many town meetings to encourage a non-breed based dangerous dog law to keep the public safe while holding the owner's accountable for their pet's behavior and not penalizing dogs of any specific breed. I've provided multiple city and county run animal shelters, as well as other rescues and humane agencies with consultations to help increase their adoption and rescue transfer rates and decrease their euthanasia, owner surrender and stray intake numbers while still meeting their budget numbers. In several cases I was able to reduce costs for the department. While most of my career background has been accounting and law enforcement it has been animal sheltering and rescue that has brought me the most fulfillment. As shelter manager for White County Animal Shelter in Sparta, TN I immediately turned a 99% euthanasia rate into a 0% adoptable euthanasia rate as soon as I walked through the door. Although the position ended unfairly, I'm still very proud of what was accomplished while I was there. I've been active in creating spay / neuter programs in rural areas helping to ensure continued decline of pet over population in the community. As a long time exotic pet owner, I've been very active in the education of the public on the importance of researching any breed or species of pet prior to it's adoption to ensure a long, healthy life.