About Kinship Animal Hospital

Meet our vet

Dr. Emily Kirkpatrick

Dr. Emily Kirkpatrick started Kinship Animal Hospital to meet a growing need for access to veterinary care in the Manchester and Southside Richmond area. She moved with her family to the Woodland Heights neighborhood in 2016, after a decade away from Richmond, and fell in love with the area.

She completed her Bachelors of Science at The College of William and Mary – which is also where she met her husband, Brian. In 2011, she fulfilled a life-long dream and received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine Summa Cum Laude from Auburn University.

Since then, Dr. Kirkpatrick and Brian grew their family by four kids. When not working, Dr. Kirkpatrick facilitates her children’s homeschool education, enjoys gardening and reading, and actively avoids housework whenever possible.

Meet our vet

Dr. Tanner Smith

Dr. Tanner Smith attended University of Connecticut as an undergraduate and received his veterinary degree from Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada.

At a young age, Dr. Smith developed a passion for caring for animals while he helped raise dairy goats and chickens on his family’s hobby farm. While in veterinary school, he discovered his love for small animals, with a particular affinity for cats.

Dr. Smith enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with his wife and family. He also likes making cat trees for his two feline daughters, Rosie and Mango.

Nichole, LVT

Nichole has always loved animals and started working with them at the age of nine. She maintained that passion through her life and pursued a career working in the field of veterinary medicine.

She has worked at a number of Richmond area vet clinics over the past 20 years, including the Veterinary Emergency Center in Carytown, and Church Hill Animal Hospital, providing her with a solid background in emergency care, preventative medicine and surgery. While working, she furthered her education and received her degree from St. Petersburg College to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician.

Nichole is always happy to talk about pet care and answer questions. She is looking forward to meeting new clients and patients here at Kinship Animal Hospital!

Mary, LVT

Mary grew up on five acres with a love for animals before she could walk. She went to the College of Mary Washington for her undergraduate degree in sociology and then decided to go to Blue Ridge Community college for her veterinary technician license. She’s been in Richmond since 2014 with her cat Lucille and her tripod Chihuahua, Pooks.

In her spare time she enjoys riding her horse, going to the river, and finding restaurants in Richmond with dog friendly patios.

Susan

Susan is a Richmond native and comes from a family of compassionate animal lovers. She has been caring for animals all her life and found her way to veterinary medicine over 20 years ago, working in day practices, and emergency medicine. Susan supports rescuing and finding homes for creatures in need and reveres the bond between animals and their guardians.

Susan joined the Kinship family in July 2020 and enjoys meeting all the people and their pets in the vibrant Manchester and coming community. She provides empathetic, kind, and calming care to all who come through our doors. Her passions include nature, photography art, writing, music, exercise and exploring other healing modalities.

Mariah

A Richmond native, Mariah grew up amongst a large, diverse family a hop and skip away from the James River. Ever since she could remember, nature and wildlife felt like home. Mariah graduated from Open High School and knew that she’d be working with animals as a career. She worked at a dog daycare/boarding facility for a few years which solidified her passion for taking care of animals, while teaching her many valuable lessons about animal behavior, connection, and unconditional love.

With a hunger for continued growth and a unified workplace, Mariah came to Kinship as a Veterinary Assistant and hasn’t looked back. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors with her Chihuahua Nani, laughing with friends, and deep-diving into metaphysical books and podcasts. Mariah strives to continue learning how to best provide loving care for your fur-babies, and obtaining her license for Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Shelby

Shelby grew up around cats and dogs, and has always looked after friends’ and family pets. She loves her 12 year old shih-tzu, Bentley, and her partner’s cat, Ori. She recently moved to Richmond with her partner and joined the Kinship family. She loves animals and learning, and Kinship has given her the opportunity to grow. She’s always excited to meet new clients and help out as much as she can.

When she’s not at work, she enjoys sewing, sketching, and gaming. Shelby also loves to spend time with her friends and family any chance she gets.

Courtney Johnson

Courtney is a Northern Virginia native who recently moved to Richmond to be a part of the Kinship family. She has always had a soft spot for animals and grew up with cats and dogs. Her favorite parts of working in the veterinary field are getting to help the patients feel better and building relationships with the clients.

When she is not at work, she enjoys spending time with friends and family and likes to sketch and paint watercolor portraits.

Peige

Peige grew up in Stafford, Virginia and moved to Richmond during 2021. She graduated from James Madison University (Duuuuuuukes!) in 2014 with a BS in Psychology. Starting in 2016 she worked as the Office Manager for the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. While she loved working in the arts and among creative individuals, the pandemic encouraged her to finally seek out a job that truly brought her joy.

She thought interacting with dogs every day would do the trick (pun intended!) and she was right. Furry faces and puppy kisses are her favorite things after laughter and her rescue Siamese cat, Dre (short for Dreidel). In her free time Peige enjoys watching horror movies and singing along to musicals. She loves making people laugh and recently started performing at local comedy open-mics. Peige is a SpongeBob superfan and is currently working on a half-sleeve tattoo filled with Bikini Bottom’s most notorious residents.