Jessica Harpin

Jessica's passion for animals began as a child, and her interests included wildlife and domesticated animals. She volunteered for many years at an Estuarine Research Reserve, assisting with tagging sharks for research monitoring, locating gopher tortoise burrows and sea turtle nests, performing trawls to assess the growth and development in the area of the estuary, and helping educate others about the local ecosystem.

Since Jessica always wanted to advocate for animals, she set out to better understand how they may think when it comes to general decision-making, and how their habitats may impact their chances of survival. She attended college to obtain her degree in Biology with a focus on Animal Behavior. After college, she worked as an assistant manager for a daycare/pet boarding facility for many years, then moved into non-profit shelter medicine. There she assisted the behavior staff with fearful/aggressive animals and adoptions, and obtained her Fear Free Shelter certification. During that time, she also volunteered at a facility that provided equestrian therapeutic riding for those with physical and mental disabilities. After relocating to Virginia in 2020, Jessica was a veterinary assistant for a few years at a non-profit veterinary hospital where she assisted in orthopedic surgeries, some specialty surgeries, anesthetized dental procedures, and general medical care. With a total of 10 years of working with animals in many different fields, she returned to animal behavior, which is her true passion. In her spare time, she still helps out at a non-profit shelter working in shelter medicine and surgeries, or, you may find her singing with her local community choir.