Coral is the founder and executive director of Dearest Creatures - an animal rescue and sanctuary in Oregon. 

Like most humans who choose to dedicate some piece of their life to caring for animals; Coral has been an avid animal lover since her earliest memories growing up in southern California. She spent most of her childhood with an assortment of creatures including her beloved rat, Rattle. As an only child, Rattle became one of her dearest friends and she spent a lot of time training and making obstacle courses for her. In 1996, Coral and her family made the move to Oregon and once settled, they rescued a precocious cat, Matilda. This was Coral’s first introduction to animal rescue and she realized how many animals were in need. 

When Coral was 20, she chose a job working in the canine care industry and not surprisingly, has been working with animals ever since! In 2008, Coral married her high school sweetheart, Louis, who has been a constant supporter of her passion for animals. It wasn’t until she met, and adopted, Kylie, a rambunctious 5 month old chocolate Pit Bull; that long-standing passion began to formulate into something more. Kylie was a rescue, but she was also a Pitbull, which comes with some added responsibilities.  Coral had met plenty of Pitties at work and was well aware of the need for intentional training to ensure Kylie was the best representative for the breed possible. Numerous training courses and pouch after pouch of treats were employed to help shape Kylie into a wonderful companion for 14 years. Coral spent the next 10 years pursuing opportunities to volunteer with multiple local rescues, furthering her knowledge and fueling her dreams of someday starting a rescue. 

In 2020, during the start of the global pandemic, Coral found herself out of work and homeschooling 2 boys. The desire for change deepened her conviction that it was time to take action and turn the dream of helping animals into a reality.  After many highs and lows, Coral and Louis found their dream property in Goble, Oregon and Dearest Creatures was born soon after.

When Coral isn’t loving on animals she enjoys her extensive puzzle collection, craft beer and going to bed early.