MEET THE TEAM | allcreatureschiro

MEET DR. EMILY McLEOD, DC, MTAA, cAVCA, cIVCA

Animals have always been part of Dr. McLeod's life. She's rescued too many strays to count, has always cared for furry friends, and has a heart to help those who can't always help themselves. Now she has the joy of helping restore health to your best friends.

A graduate of Cleveland Chiropractic College in 2000, Dr. McLeod earned both the Clinic Service and Clinic Excellence awards while completing her clinicals. She opened a family wellness center in 2001 and joyfully served hundreds of people each week with chiropractic care. In 2004 Dr. McLeod returned to school to earn her National Certification in Equine and Small Animal Chiropractic Care through the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association.

In 2013, Dr. McLeod left her 2-legged practice to pursue a full time animal practice. Working for and alongside wonderful veterinarians for the last two decades has opened her eyes to her passion for some particular areas of veterinary medicine. Since August 2023, Dr. McLeod has spent her days as a student in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University! Dr. McLeod continues in her role as the Assistant Director of the Parker University Animal Chiropractic Certification Course for DVMs and DCs in Dallas, TX. During school breaks (primarily holidays and summers), she will continue to be available to provide excellent chiropractic care for your best friends.

When she's not working and studying, Dr. McLeod loves spending time with her very favorite human and husband, Dr. Dave Jennings (a chiropractor for humans), and their motley crew of able-bodied, special needs, and hospice foster animals.

Dr. McLeod has served overseas regularly. To learn more about her ministry, click here.

MEET DR. STELLA PETTID, DC, cIVCA

Dr. Pettid’s lifelong animal enthusiasm began with family pets at home and quickly transitioned to include the competitive arena. After spending a year showing in the dog conformation ring, she had the opportunity to begin riding horses in lessons and eventually purchased her own horses. There she quickly found her passion in equine performance, striving to learn anything and everything pertaining to horses. She showed at open shows with any horse she could borrow or lease until finally finding her dream horse - an Andalusian mare. Together they gathered multiple regional and national championships. Dr. Stella has also received regional and national honors in a variety of divisions like western, hunter, show hack, and showmanship in the Arabian community. While being in the equine performance world, Dr. Stella has worn hats of all types, from professional groom to lesson instructor to assistant trainer. All of these roles continued to bring her into contact with some of the most amazing providers for animal care.

After years of witnessing the benefits of bodywork, specifically chiropractic, in conjunction with excellent vet care, Dr. Stella knew she wanted to serve animals with chiropractic care, so she enrolled at Cleveland University to begin her journey in becoming a certified animal chiropractor. Dr. Stella graduated from Cleveland University with her Doctorate of Chiropractic, then obtained certification in animal chiropractic by the IVCA (International Veterinary Chiropractic Association).

Dr. Stella is thrilled and honored to be joining forces with Dr. Emily McLeod of All Creatures Chiropractic, Inc to bring this amazing form of wellness care to your furry and hooved friends. Licensed in both KS and MO, she can be found working on small animals at Green Summit Animal Clinic in Lee's Summit, MO and Eagle Animal Clinic in Liberty, MO and horses at Strain Equine Services in Bonner Springs, KS and Holt Animal Clinic in Holt, MO.

MEET DR. SHAREN KAUZLARICH, DC, cIVCA

Dr. Kauzlarich was born and raised in Iowa and moved to the Kansas City area for her education. She enjoyed KC enough to call it home and has been here for over 20 years.

Dr. Sharen graduated from Cleveland Chiropractic University in 1995 and has enjoyed a rich and fulfilling practice in downtown Lee's Summit, MO for several years. She earned her certification in animal chiropractic from Options for Animals in 2003 and looks forward to caring for more animals on a regular basis. Dr. Sharen will be caring for animals at Green Summit Animal Clinic in Lee's Summit, MO.

When she's not serving people and animals, Dr. Sharen enjoys spending time with her favorite four legged best friend, Tess.

MEET DR. CHELSEA GAUDETTE, DC, cIVCA

Dr. Gaudette grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Missouri in her teen years. She has worked in veterinary clinics since she was 15. While in one of those clinics, Dr. Chelsea was introduced to animal chiropractic and knew early on she was made for this work!

After completing her Doctorate of Chiropractic at Cleveland University KC, Dr. Chelsea then went on to earn her animal chiropractic certification under to tutelage of Dr. Emily McLeod at Parker University in TX. She's thrilled to be joining the All Creatures Chiropractic team! Dr. Chelsea will be caring for animal patients at Excelsior Springs Animal Clinic in Excelsior Springs, MO.

When Dr. Chelsea isn't caring for patients, she enjoys her own family of animals including a dog named Rufus and a cat named PoePoe. Her hobbies include reading, swimming, and watching anime.

MEET LINDA POWERS

Linda Powers shares her life with 3 humans, her husband, Eric, their daughter, Eleanor, and their daughter-in-law, Lily, Ohana the German Shepherd, Phil the Cat, and many equine friends including her beautiful black mare, Wachiwi. She enjoys traveling, music, cooking, reading, all things outdoors, and spending as much time with her family as she can.

Now retired, Linda began a long and rewarding teaching career in 1992 in the Shawnee Mission School District. She is the former owner, director and lead teacher of Community School #1, a one room schoolhouse located in midtown Kansas City. Linda holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Social Welfare from the University of Kansas where she served as a child advocate in a domestic abuse shelter. She additionally has a Bachelor’s of Science in Education from Pittsburg State University. While working toward her Master’s of Literacy at Rockhurst University, Linda tutored struggling readers in the University’s Community Center.

Linda is thrilled to be navigating the puzzle of all of the doctors' schedules which is certainly no small task! Managing multiple people, locations, and sources of communication (texts, calls, emails, messages) is not for the weak! Linda is amazing at sorting through the needs of each client and patient, and she takes great pride in making sure your best friends get the care they need just as quickly as possible - the titles "Director of Details" and "Scheduling Goddess" have been well earned.

MEET MELISSA GEFFERT

If you’ve been into Mission Road Animal Clinic, you’ve likely seen Melissa as she is the practice manager! She’s been with the practice since current ownership took over in 2005 but has worked in the veterinary industry for 25 years. Melissa is our social media happiness ambassador! She is behind the cute pics and quips you see you our facebook and instagram pages. Could we use socials for more education? Sure. But in this day and age, we feel good about simply sharing photos of our darling patients.

When not managing a busy vet practice and posting cute pics to socials, Melissa runs a busy household which she shares with her husband Adam and two teenaged daughters, Hannah and Sydney. Melissa loves to cook, is an avid baker, takes as many walks with her two dogs Walter (mini Aussie) and Scarlett (standard poodle) as she can, and sings in a rock band, "My Oh My"… you know, in her free time ;)