Dr. Steven Duns
Dr. Steven Duns received his Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Guelph in 1990. He began his doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Ontario Veterinary College the same year and graduated, with honours, in 1995. During his years at the Veterinary College he took opportunities to work in a veterinary virology laboratory in Punjab, India and in the anesthesiology department at the veterinary college in Bern, Switzerland. After graduation, he moved to Ottawa, not too far from where he grew up in the West Island of Montreal. He spent four years working in companion animal practices in Kemptville, Manotick and Barrhaven. He opened the Queensway West Animal Hospital in 1999. His interests include scuba diving, hiking and camping, photography, travel and occasionally skydiving. He has 3 cats, Stella, Dewey and Kramer.
Dr. Shelagh Morrison
Dr. Shelagh Morrison graduated with honours from the Ontario Veterinary College, at the University of Guelph, in 1998. During veterinary school she spent 2 summers working with the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife center, helping to raise and rehabilitate hundreds of wild animals and participating in the center’s public education program. She continues to be involved, whenever possible, with wildlife rehabilitation.
Upon graduation, Shelagh went on to complete a 1 year internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Alta Vista Animal Hospital, then joined the staff there for the next 7 years working primarily in the Critical Care Unit and the emergency department. During that time she was also the official veterinarian for the Parliament Hill cat colony. She joined the staff at the Queensway West Animal Hospital part time in 2005 and then on a full time basis in the Spring of 2006. She became a partner in the business with Dr. Duns in 2013. She enjoys getting to know clients and their pets, supporting that bond that makes our pets a member of the family. She also enjoys supporting a local cat rescue and wildlife rescue.
Shelagh shares her home in the country with her husband Garth, her daughter Madelyn and her twin son and daughter Jaron and Paige. Her household is run by 5 cats: Panda, Luna, Mione, Fudge and Remus. Two chihuahuas, Neville and Naya, try to keep everyone in line and Ginny the Cavalier King Charles just loves everyone. Ginny also gets to come to work to observe and/or help out on appointments. Through the pandemic, with her children at home for online or hybrid schooling, the family has also been able to raise and release 3 litters of raccoons and 2 litters of squirrels.
Shelagh spends most of her spare time running around with her 3 kids. She loves spending time working with refugee families. She currently is administering a tutoring program through the University of Ottawa that matches students with newly arrived refugees to provide language and academic support and working on community arts and social justice initiatives with her non-profit group PartageChelseaShare.
Dr. Blanaid Donnelly
A native of Northern Ireland, Blanaid has been living in Canada since 2002. She graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 2009 and, driven by her interest in the interaction between human and animal health, went on to complete her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Guelph in 2011 and her PhD at McGill University in 2016. She returned to practice at the Ottawa Veterinary Hospital in 2016 where she has predominantly been practicing emergency medicine.
Outside of work she loves reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with her husband, daughter and their cats, Nugget and Daisy.
Blanaid is very excited to be joining the QWAH team! She is looking forward to building lasting relationships with pets and their families in the Kanata area and to using preventive medicine to keep them out of the emergency room!
