Being able to take care of animals and advocate for them has always been my dream.  I grew up on a farm in rural West Virginia and even before I could walk I always knew that veterinary medicine was my future.  I drove my parents crazy bringing home every stray and injured animal so that I could try to nurse them back to health.  Throughout college I worked as an unlicensed veterinary technician which allowed me to gain valuable real life experience in the veterinary world.   After graduating from West Virginia University with a menagerie of pets, I attended Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine to finally fulfill my dream. After graduating in 2007 with my veterinary license, I entered private practice for five years before transitioning to an ICU/specialty hospital where I practiced for nine years.  Those years of emergency medicine taught me many skills but also left me heart broken. While sometimes it was necessary to prevent suffering, having to put beloved pets to sleep in a hospital setting always made me sad.  I started to rack my brain trying to come up with ways to make it a more peaceful passing.  If it was nice weather we would go out into the gardens behind the hospital so that it was not such a clinical setting. They were placed on soft blankets and given all the chocolate, cookies, and cheese they could want. We loved on them until they transitioned into sleep, and while we made it as peaceful as possible, it was no comparison to home.  So many times we gave a terminal diagnosis and owners were left devastated trying to piece together how to proceed.  When is it time? What are my options?  What should I expect?  In 2020 I saw an advertisement for an at home euthanasia service and despite my love of emergency medicine I could not ignore the feeling that this was now my future.  During the peak of the covid pandemic, where veterinary clinics were at their breaking point trying to provide all aspects of medicine, I started with Lap of Love which was a national at home euthanasia service. Very quickly I realized this was more then a job, it was a calling. I was actually making such a difference in the final moments of life for these faithful companions.  With at home euthanasia I was able to do everything in my power to make the transition as peaceful as possible for both the family and their beloved pet. In their final hours they were able to avoid the stress of being put in a car and driven to a vet hospital, and instead fell asleep peacefully in their own house surrounded by loved ones.  Being able to ease suffering and send them off with the dignity and love that they deserve brought me peace.  People ask me all the time how I do this but the bigger question is how could I not?