Dr. Emilia Wong Gordon, DVM, DABVP (Shelter Medicine Practice)
Dr. Gordon provides mobile and consulting services to animal shelters and other animal welfare stakeholders through her veterinary practice, Haven Veterinary Services. She is also a Guide on VetHive, lectures regularly on shelter topics at several universities in Western Canada, and volunteers with groups focused on animal welfare and diversity, equity, and inclusion in veterinary medicine.
Dr. Gordon’s clinical interests include infectious disease (particularly outbreak prevention, investigation, and management), community medicine, internal medicine, and behaviour. She has co-authored several publications on shelter infectious disease and was the lead veterinarian investigating a multi-facility feline gastroenteritis outbreak in 2018 that led to the discovery of a novel feline virus, feline chaphamaparvovirus. Her other research interests and areas of active collaboration include animal welfare epidemiology (particularly factors leading to animal relinquishment and their relationship with human social vulnerability) and shelter feline behaviour and welfare.
Originally from the United States, Dr. Gordon holds veterinary licenses in California and British Columbia. She served as Medical Director of the Berkeley Humane Society in Berkeley, CA from 2007-2010 and as Senior Manager, Animal Health for the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (supporting 36 shelters provincially) from 2014-2022. She also has extensive general practice experience (11 years before becoming a veterinarian, and 6 years as a veterinarian). For over 20 years, Dr. Gordon has volunteered with organizations supporting people experiencing homelessness and their companion animals. She believes that cross-sector collaboration with a One Health emphasis is essential to the shared goals of the animal welfare, veterinary, and human health professions. These include the provision of accessible, culturally competent, community-based care that meets human-animal families where they are.
Dr. Gordon obtained her veterinary degree from the University of California, Davis in 2005. In 2016, she completed the UF Graduate Certificate in Shelter Medicine. In 2020, she became the first board-certified shelter medicine specialist in Canada.
Courses Taught:
VME6100: Infectious Disease Management for Animal Shelters