About Me

Melissa Shapiro, DVM, is a small-animal veterinarian, author, speaker, and advocate for pets with disabilities.

She is also the driving force behind the social media phenomenon Piglet, the deaf blind pink puppy (@pinkpigletpuppy). 

 

For over 30 years, Dr. Shapiro has been the owner and operator of the Visiting Vet Service, a house call practice in Fairfield County, CT. She had no idea that through a chain of perceived failures and unexpected events that started at age 17 when she was rejected from her dream college, she would ultimately transition her veterinary career to creating a nonprofit, becoming a published author and speaker, and inspiring others to embrace disappointing events in their own lives as a

pivot point to a new and rewarding path. Her keynote, workshops, and webinars are well received in corporate, nonprofit, veterinary and other professional conferences, educational, and other settings. 

 

Dr. Shapiro creates and publishes all content for her popular social media pages that feature Piglet, her deaf blind pink dog and her 7 other rescued dogs. In 2017, Dr. Shapiro co-created the Piglet Mindset® School Visit Program, which uses Piglet’s story to teach children to be positive, resilient, and kind in classrooms across the United States and the world. 

 

She is the CEO and director of Piglet International Inc., a nonprofit that supports the Piglet Mindset® School Visit Program and raises awareness for rescued and disabled animals through education and fundraising (Piglet's Rescue Fund). 

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In 2025 Dr. Shapiro created The Disabled Pets Project, an information and support resource for veterinarians, pet parents, and rescuers who care for disabled pets. The website is disabledpets.org. The affiliated Instagram account is @disabledpetsproject and Facebook support group is The Disabled Pets Community. 

 

Dr. Shapiro’s book PIGLET, The Unexpected Story of a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and His Family was published by Simon and Schuster, Atria Books, in August 2021. A children’s book, Piglet Comes Home, was released in June 2022. 

 

Dr. Shapiro's entertaining and inspiring Piglet Mindset presentations are well received by children and adults in schools and other venues. She also speaks about many aspects of caring for pets with disabilities and special needs at both in person and virtual veterinary and other conferences.

 

A graduate of Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Shapiro completed a rotating internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, followed by a residency in small-animal internal medicine at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Dr. Shapiro is the proud mother of 3 children, Rachael, Daniel, and Ellie. She lives in Westport, Connecticut, with her husband, Warren Shapiro, 8 rescued dogs, 2 rescued parakeets Petey and Patty, and a rescued House Sparrow named Ginny.