Dr. Abbie Atteberry, veterinarian, national shelter medicine

Dr. Abbie is a veterinarian on the National Shelter Medicine team at Best Friends with extensive experience leading teams at nonprofit animal shelters, sanctuaries, and veterinary clinics. She has a passion for motivating others through a servant-based leadership approach and cultivating growth and positive interpersonal relationships. In addition to organizational leadership, she has a strong professional interest in animal behavior, psychopharmaceuticals, and shelter operations, including how to increase equity in the field.

Prior to joining Best Friends, Abbie most recently served as the Executive Director for the animal shelter of St. Louis, Missouri where she led the organization to achieve record-setting accomplishments, such as a 168% increase in dog adoptions, reducing the number of days onsite for dogs by 70%, moving over 200 large dogs to foster in 8 weeks, and more! Her commitment to animal welfare is also exemplified through her work founding the Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations and Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference, ensuring all animal welfare organizations in Missouri have access to the information and relationships they need to succeed. Before working in animal sheltering, Abbie previously served as the Executive Director of National Tiger Sanctuary. In this role, she focused on elevating the standard of care for the animals and implementing new educational initiatives and a wildlife rehabilitation program. She also served on the founding committees for the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, which was the first collaborative effort between animal sanctuaries to end the exploitation of big cats in the US.

Outside of animal welfare, Abbie enjoys seeing live music, trying new things, and spending time with those she loves.