Laura Spinney

Laura worked as a Veterinary Technician from 1986-1999 at which time she decided to go back to graduate school where she studied wildlife biology, focusing on hormones and behavior in animals. She was primarily interested in stress hormones and androgens to determine how physiology can drive aggressive and parental behavior in different species. While at Princeton, Laura also became interested in the physiological stress-response and how that can affect the immune system and activated behaviors associated with stress. Upon completing her graduate degree, Laura came to Hood River where she taught science classes at Columbia Gorge Community College for a number of years while simultaneously working at Cascade Pet Camp.

Laura joined us in 2021 as Operations Manager, and was promoted to the Operations Director role in December of 2022. In her new role, she’s responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the shelter, with a focus using her experience to mitigate stress, and make the time a dog spends in the shelter the most behaviorally healthy it can be.