Clarissa Black, Neighbor

Animal trainer and Pets for Vets Founder and Program Director, Clarissa Black, has loved interacting with animals since she was a child. She was fortunate to have grown up surrounded by a variety of animals. At an early age she taught family pets fun behaviors to show off to her friends; a tell tale sign that this little girl would grow up to be a professional animal trainer.

After graduating from Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science, she returned to Hawaii when she was offered a job as a dolphin trainer. With the dolphins, Black learned advanced animal training principles and applied them to husbandry, veterinary, research and program training.

Her latest endeavor is developing the Pets for Vets program. During her experience working with therapy dogs in the company of America’s veterans and wounded soldiers, she saw firsthand how important animals can be in recovery. This led her to develop a charitable organization dedicated to rescuing shelter animals training them and pairing them with American veterans with a desire to have a companion.