March 2019 by Sarah Aguilar, April Moore, Lee Ann Shenefiel and Mark Sloat

Audience: Executive Leadership

Video Length: 49:04

The Modern Municipal Animal Agency

Learn how modern shelters develop targeted neighborhood programs that serve the larger community's desire to be no-kill while allowing them to serve the public safety needs of specific areas. This presentation was recorded by Maddie's Fund® at the 2019 American Pets Alive! Conference.

About Sarah Aguilar

Prior to becoming the deputy director at Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Sarah was a program coordinator at the municipal shelter in Ventura, CA, where she managed their first formal foster program which placed nearly 3,000 animals into foster homes annually and tripled the number of cats adopted through partner pet stores and offsite events. Her experience as the training general manger for a national restaurant chain, combined with degrees in business management and accounting, have enabled Sarah to bring a unique customer service and systemic, data driven approach, to leading a municipal shelter.


About April Moore

April Moore has served as Animal Protection Supervisor with the Field Services Unit based at the Austin Animal Center for over 10 years. She played an integral role in helping the Animal Services Office become the nation's largest no-kill open-intake animal shelter by developing community policies and programs that promote lifesaving and connect community members with the resources needed to keep their pets safe and healthy. The Field Services Unit serves over 1 million residents in the Austin and Travis County area through response to over 30,000 calls for service, emergency response, neighborhood canvassing and outreach events. April is also an instructor for Maddie's® Lifesaving Academy.


About Lee Ann Shenefiel

Lee Ann previously served as the Interim Chief Animal Services Officer at Austin Animal Center in Austin, Texas overseeing Animal Protection, outreach and prevention programming and the center's volunteer program. Prior to coming to Austin, Lee Ann was the Business Operations Manager at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in northern Virginia and has over a decade in public service with a focus on connecting the community and government resources. In 2016, Lee Ann was recognized with the 2016 Lifesaving Award from APA!. She is also a member of the National Steering Committee for Best Friends Animal Society.


About Mark Sloat

Mark's career in animal welfare began in 1985 when he took on the operation of a small non-profit rural dog rescue, which he oversaw for 24 years. He also worked as a contract animal control officer for a rural county in Minnesota for 11 of those years. During that time, he learned the value of returning pets to their families. By keeping them together, he had the opportunity to help the owners better care for and appreciate their pets. Mark has now been employed by Austin Animal Center Services for five years. He started as ACO in the Animal Protection unit and eventually moved up to program manager.