Dr. Dani McVety-Leinen (’09) and Dr. Mary Gardner (’09) founded Lap of Love Veterinary  Hospice in 2009.

Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice, founded by two UF College of Veterinary Medicine graduates Dani McVety-Leinen, D.V.M. (’09) and Mary Gardner, D.V.M. (’08), was recently named to the Gator 100 list of fastest-growing Gator-owned businesses in the nation, becoming the first firm to remain on the list for seven years in a row.

Since its founding in 2009, Lap of Love has grown into the nation’s largest network of veterinarians dedicated solely to end-of-life care at home. McVety-Leinen and Gardner employ more than 225 vets in 33 states, as well as 120 trained care coordinators who coach pet owners virtually and by phone, handling approximately 10,000 calls a week.

The pair has remained actively involved with college activities since graduation from veterinary school, and has taught an end-of-life medical course at the college since 2014. Both members of the Dean’s Circle of Excellence, McVety-Leinen and Gardner donated to the college to name the Lap of Love Client Communications Room in the college’s clinical skills laboratory.