919-249-6601
About us
Helping animal rescue organizations save more lives by providing timely, low-cost veterinary care is the mission of Harmony Animal Rescue Clinic. Our non-profit 501(c)(3) clinic is the only non-profit animal rescue clinic on the east coast that caters only to rescue groups. HARC’s sole purpose is to provide out-patient veterinary care for animal rescue groups when they need it.
HARC was opened in the former location of Harmony Animal Hospital. When Harmony moved to it's new building in 2018, the owners Dr. Jodi Reed and Jason Lenhardt wanted to find a way to give back to the community for it's support. Due to North Carolina's huge population of stray dogs and cats there are over 100 rescue groups in the state looking for medical care for the pets they are saving.
This made HARC an obvious choice and we opened as a 501c3 nonprofit in August of 2020. Lead veterinarian, Dr. Claudia Sheppard, has volunteered her skills locally and with rescue organizations around the world. Shelter medicine quickly became her passion and her volunteer work turned into her full-time career. Many pets that arrive at shelters are too sick or injured to be placed in a home. Dr. Claudia found that helping them get well and finding their forever homes was deeply rewarding.
HARC is our way of giving back to local animal rescue groups for all their hard work in saving dogs and cats and giving them a new lease on life. If you are part of a local, non-profit animal rescue, and would like to learn more about how HARC can help your mission, please call us at: (919) 249-6601 or email us at info@harcnc.org.
Meet Our Team
Claudia Sheppard, DVM
Lead Veterinary Doctor
Mikaela Archambeault
DVM, CCRT
Dr. Mikaela Archambeault graduated from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016 and pursued a small animal rotating internship with Carolina Veterinary Specialists in Greensboro. She has since worked in general practice in Durham, NC before joining our Harmony family.
She works part time at Orange County Animal Shelter as part of the county’s spay and neuter program. She was raised with collies and so grew up with a fondness for the larger breed dogs, though has developed quite the affinity for cats in the last few years. Dr. Mikaela has an interest in internal medicine, surgery, geriatric pets, and feline medicine.
Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and playing volleyball with her husband. They have 2 cattle dog mixes, 1 cat, 1 bearded dragon, and a new baby girl.
David DiPiero, DVM
Dr. David grew up in coastal North Carolina and graduated from NC State College of Veterinary Medicine in 2020. He worked as a small animal general practitioner in Wilmington, NC for three years before moving to Apex, NC. He enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine with a special interest in dentistry and surgery.
He is enthusiastic about finding creative ways to keep quality medical care accessible and affordable, especially for rescue and shelter animals. In his free time he enjoys hiking, reading, surfing and talking over cases with his wife, who is also a small animal veterinarian.
Dr. Claudia Sheppard grew up in Germany and completed part of her veterinary school training there. She transferred to Purdue University and graduated with her DVM in 1994. She earned an MS in parasitology at Purdue the following year. She practiced in a surgical-referral, small animal practice in Frankfurt, Germany after graduation, then relocated to Chapel Hill with her husband Scott.
While working part-time in a small animal veterinary practice, Dr. Claudia also volunteered at her local shelter. That’s where she discovered her passion for shelter medicine. Too many pets arrive at shelters too sick or injured to be adopted, and she wanted to help that.
Dr. Claudia feels it’s a tremendous privilege to be part of HARC and to use her skills to help even more rescues. Her skills from shelter medicine and private practice have prepared her well for HARC. She will also provide individualized care when working with rescue organizations and their foster families, pursuing practical solutions to help foster patients become adoptable and find their forever homes. She is also Fear Free Certified— so she recognizes and knows the steps to take to reduce the fear, anxiety and stress some pets experience with vet hospital visits.
Brandy Brown
Veterinary Nurse
Brandy began her veterinary career volunteering to help rehabilitate wildlife. She quickly decided that veterinary medicine was her calling and has been working as a veterinary nurse ever since. She is so thankful to have the unique opportunity to be working with a non-profit organization that provides care to rescue animals!
She lives in Cary with her family and an assortment of animals including rabbits, birds, dogs, fish and a cat.
Brynna Pottmeyer
Veterinary Assistant
Brynna was born and raised in Raleigh, NC. She has been working with animals since the age of 14 and has always wanted to help animals in need. Being a part of the HARC team allows her to do exactly that! In her free time she enjoys trying new things, crafting and sewing.
Mack Wilder
Veterinary Assistant
Sarah Redmond
CSR
Sarah grew up in Raleigh, NC and attended business school at North Carolina State University. She is excited to be working for a non-profit and enjoys being able to interact with animals on a daily basis. She is passionate about helping HARC continue to grow and see us reach our full potential as a solely rescue based clinic. She believes HARC has a unique opportunity to make an big impact in the rescue community.
Veterinary medicine is a new adventure for her but she enjoys being able to learn on a daily basis.
Sienna Hees
CSR
Sienna grew up in South Florida and previously worked at a no-kill, non-profit animal rescue for two years after graduating from USF. When she moved to North Carolina she stepped away from veterinary medicine for a few years before returning to her passion after the pandemic. She feels that working with animals is what she was made to do and loves seeing the change in their demeanor when they realize they are safe.
She currently lives in Apex with her husband, two dogs and two cats. She spends her free time reading, gardening and crafting lots of fun projects for her coworkers.
Ally Lindstrom, RVT
Veterinary Technician
Ally is a registered veterinary technician in the state of North Carolina. Ally grew up in the Midwest and has lived a in a few other states, and abroad for a bit. She knew from a young age she wanted to work with animals, bringing home stray critters often as a child.
She obtained a degree in human resource management and worked in that field for a bit before making the jump to veterinary medicine. Her ultimate goal would be to work for a zoo!
Ally is currently deployed with United States Army stationed in Germany for a year.
Gary Canfield
Clinic Manager
Gary graduated from University of Florida with a Finance degree some time ago. He lived in Colorado for 10 years where he met his wife, Colleen. The two of them relocated to NC in 2002, and after decades of working for large hospitality companies, Gary got into the veterinary field as a Practice Manager in 2016. He then joined Harmony Animal Hospital soon after in 2018 just as Harmony was preparing to move into the amazing new facility.
Currently, Gary lives on a beautiful farm with Colleen as well as his two daughters, Kaya and Sierra, his four dogs Willow, Koda, Frankie, and Ila, his four cats Franti, Penny, Nala, and Kiki, as well as two horses Marley and Arlo and two miniature donkeys Gypsy and Sky. When not working or caring for pets, Gary enjoys hiking with his pups, seeing live music, and playing tennis.