{"id":848,"date":"2026-06-11T21:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=848"},"modified":"2026-06-11T21:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:05:07","slug":"miami-dade-county-animal-services-volunteer-of-the-year-ana-tainna-shepard-goes-beyond-the-call-of-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=848","title":{"rendered":"Miami-Dade County Animal Services Volunteer of the Year Ana Tainna Shepard goes beyond the call of duty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- image --><br \/>\n<!-- content --><\/p>\n<p><span>More than 30 hours per week at the facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For over the past five years, Ana Tainna Shepard has been one of the senior volunteers for Miami Dade County Animal Services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=846\">Deli Lane &amp; Sunset Tavern Invite South Miami to Celebrate the World Cup Together This Summer<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>A realtor, mother and wife, and has served on several community boards, she spends a lot of time helping\u00a0by caring for over 500 dogs at the animal shelter in Doral and Medley.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard is part of the county\u2019s campaign along with a team of volunteers to encourage people to adopt and take home animals to alleviate the overcrowding population crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is a task she takes great pride in and for her efforts and passion, Shepard was named Miami-Dade County 2026 Volunteer of the Year for Animal Services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The county honored Shepard with the award because of her dedication and commitment and supporting the animal services operation in the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re celebrating someone who goes above and beyond for our shelter pets every single day,\u201d the county said in a statement. \u201cShe is such an incredible part of our mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard, the wife of former NBC 6 News investigative and anchor reporter and Gulf War pilot Willard Shepard, said giving back to the community will always be part of her life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But her love for animals is unparalleled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI always see the need to engage in the community that matters and can change things,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to be part of something with a greater purpose and it so happens to be loving and caring for animals.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard herself adopted three senior dogs from the animal shelter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard said one of the dogs was rescued from an illegal backyard breeder in Hialeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She believes no one wants him because the animal suffers from a condition called Alopecia, in which a dog loses hair caused by genetic conditions, hormonal imbalances and immune disease.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=843\">MIA celebrates World Cup opening day with Brazilian samba performances<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>But the condition didn\u2019t stop Shepard from adopting the dog.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf no one adopted him, \u2018I said I would take him home,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cNo one wanted him so he\u2019s mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But Shepard and her team of volunteers at the shelter are trying to overcome a challenge of getting more people to adopt dogs to reduce space at the two facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Doral shelter was built for 340 dogs but now houses roughly 500 pets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard said the Doral site was so overcrowded that the county had to reopen the Medley shelter in 2022 to rotate some of the animals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard said finances could be the cause of preventing some people from adopting pets these days as well some apartment buildings prohibit dogs. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt does take finances to care for a dog,\u201d Shepard said. \u201cThe shelter provides the basics like spay and neuter service and low cost of vaccine, but the medical falls on the owner\u2019s care which could be quite expensive these days.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard said Miami Dade Animals Services has launched a summer campaign to foster and adopt pets, especially at the Medley site which doesn\u2019t have air conditioning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt gets hot for them,\u201d she said. \u201cI encourage the community to adopt and foster these dogs. We have many dogs waiting for families to be adopted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shepard said winning the Volunteer of the Year award is not an individual honor but a team effort.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe value of teamwork is very important,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about me, many other people like me have dedicated long hours and sacrificed their family time to be there at the shelter every day. They are there at 6 in the morning when the shelter first opens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=840\">Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis Resolution Expanding Condo Homeownership Opportunities Passes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 30 hours per week at the facilities. For over the past five years, Ana Tainna Shepard has been one of the senior volunteers for Miami Dade County Animal Services. A realtor, mother and wife, and has served on several community boards, she spends a lot of time helping by caring for over 500 dogs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[127,128,23],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miami-dade-animal-services","tag-miami-dade-animal-services","tag-miami-dade-animal-services-home","tag-miami-dade-community-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Miami-Dade County Animal Services Volunteer of the Year Ana Tainna Shepard goes beyond the call of duty - Miami Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/miamimovershub.com\/?p=848\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miami-Dade County Animal Services Volunteer of the Year Ana Tainna Shepard goes beyond the call of duty - Miami Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 30 hours per week at the facilities. For over the past five years, Ana Tainna Shepard has been one of the senior volunteers for Miami Dade County Animal Services. 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