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Animal care is in the blood and backbone of Rocky Mountain PAWS.Its owner started working in high school as a kennel technician in veterinary hospitals in her home state of Colorado. She attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO and earned a Bachelors of Science degree with a Major in Zoology in 2007. FoCo was also where she met her friend and co-owner of Rocky Mountain PAWS. Following college, there was a long career of exotic animal care. Valerie worked in two AZA accredited zoos, working mostly with large carnivores; Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs, Snow Leopards, Leopards, Lynx, Pallas Cats, Brown bears and Black bears are only some of the long list of animals she cared for in over 10 years. She also spent time working with African hoof stock and bird species; Giraffe, Zebra, Ostrich etc. Her life has been dedicated to the welfare and enrichment of all the animals under her care. She’s trained big cats and bears to participate in voluntary blood draws and all other species to volunteer in their own physical examinations. She’s trained bears to hibernate as part of their natural life cycle. She raised and trained two ambassador cheetahs that travel the states raising awareness of the plight of endangered species. She raised lion cubs and successfully integrated the cubs into a multi-male Pride of lions. She spent her career making sure all animals were properly stimulated, enriched and cared for. She moved back to Colorado to be close to family and is keeping with her passion to care for animals. She and her co-founder Chris have created Rocky Mountain PAWS, LLC in January of 2021.