Dr. Heather Rally
Medical Director, Sherman Oaks
Dr. Heather Rally is the Medical Director of the Green Dog Dental & Veterinary Center in Sherman Oaks.
Favorite Part of My Job
Dr. Rally’s favorite part of clinical practice is helping dogs and cats live longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives while strengthening the bond they share with their families. Her clinical interests include preventive and wellness care, with an emphasis on the connections among animal health, environment, behavior, and well-being. She takes a compassionate, collaborative approach to medicine, emphasizing client education and working with families throughout every stage of their pet’s life. She believes the best outcomes arise when veterinarians and clients work as a team, combining medical expertise with each family’s unique knowledge of their pet.
Dr. Rally has a particular passion for dentistry and believes oral health is essential to a pet’s comfort, overall health, and longevity. She finds it especially rewarding to relieve previously unrecognized dental pain and see the improvement treatment can make in a patient’s quality of life.
As Medical Director of Green Dog Dental & Veterinary Center, Dr. Rally works with the veterinary team to maintain high standards across dentistry, surgery, anesthesia, general medicine, urgent care and exotics departments. She is committed to evidence-based medicine that considers the needs of the whole patient.
Professional Background
Dr. Rally’s background spans companion-animal medicine, animal welfare science, wildlife and marine-mammal medicine, teaching, research, law, and advocacy. This breadth of experience informs her attention to pain, behavior, quality of life, and each animal’s individual needs.
In addition to her work at Green Dog, Dr. Rally is the founder of Thrive Wild, where she provides welfare-focused veterinary consultation to nonprofit organizations, shelters, sanctuaries, and animal-protection initiatives. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Vermont Law and Graduate School, where she has taught animal welfare science, ethics, conservation, and animal protection.
Her scholarship on animal welfare, conservation, and animal-protection law includes peer-reviewed publications in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Reviews in the Neurosciences, and PeerJ. She is also a co-author of the chapter “Animal Welfare and the Endangered Species Act” in the American Bar Association’s Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy, and Perspectives.
Dr. Rally has specialized training and experience in marine-mammal medicine and welfare and advises international whale and dolphin sanctuary initiatives, including the Whale Sanctuary Project, the SEA LIFE Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary, and the Aegean Marine Life Sanctuary.
Work History
Before joining Green Dog, Dr. Rally served as Senior Veterinarian for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the Foundation to Support Animal Protection, where she led veterinary investigations and enforcement efforts involving abuse and neglect in captive settings.
Today, her primary focus is caring for dogs and cats and leading Green Dog’s clinical team, combining strong medical standards with an individualized and compassionate approach to every patient and family.