Our People.

Sarah Aguilar

After a tragic accident, Sarah Aguilar changed life tracks and went from managing a three million dollar a year restaurant in Santa Barbara, CA to leading lifesaving work in animal welfare.  She spent several years expanding the structure of a multi-state foster-based Boxer rescue as a board member and later, the COO.   Sarah was the first Foster Coordinator at a municipal shelter in Ventura, CA, where she placed nearly 3000 animals into foster homes annually, and tripled the number of cats adopted through partner pet stores and offsite events. After spending two years as the Deputy Director for Pima Animal Care in Tucson, AZ, developing and implementing processes that have helped to propel PACC into the forefront of innovative sheltering, Sarah has taken the reigns of the foster program for GreaterGood.org.  

Kim Brown

Kim Brown has worked in the animal welfare field for ten years. She is the Director of Operations for the APA Adoption Center in St. Louis, MO. Kim started volunteering fostering animals and has been fostering for fifteen years. Kim has a MA in Non-profit Administration and a BA in Human Resource Management. Prior to working in animal welfare she worked in the nonprofit sector. She also spent eight years in the US Army Reserves as a Combat Medic. Kim has two daughters, who are also animal and nature lovers, as well as two dogs (B and Pepper) and two cats (Larry and Barry). 

Joyce Higginbotham

Joyce York Higginbotham is a Missouri native who has been passionate about animal welfare since the age of 8, when she rescued a stray kitten and found it a home. Over the past fifteen years she has volunteered for several St. Louis area dog rescues and is especially devoted to fostering pregnant moms and neonatal puppies. She helped create Is Today My Day dog rescue in 2017, served as their first President, and is still active with them as a foster and assistant to the Treasurer. After attending the Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference in 2019, she knew she wanted the vision of a statewide Coalition for shelters and rescues to become a reality, and joined the Coalition team. She earned a B.S. degree in political science from the University of Central Missouri in 1983 and a J.D. from Washington University in 1986, and has been in private practice as an estate planning attorney in St. Louis for more than 30 years.

Dr. Abbie Knudsen Atteberry, MS, CAWA, Elite FFCP

Abbie Knudsen is the President and Cofounder of the Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations and Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Missouri, with special interests in access to care, shelter medicine, and behavior. After attaining her degree, she cofounded Pet Wellness Alliance, a nonprofit veterinary services organization dedicated to helping all families access the veterinary care they desire for their pets. She then transitioned into the Executive Director role at CARE STL, the municipal shelter for the City of St. Louis, where she couldn’t be happier to work with an inspirational team to support the families and pets of her home city.

Abbie has been recognized for her dedication to animal welfare as the winner of the MVMA’s Volunteerism Award, SAVMA’s Commitment to Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Bond Award, and HSVMA’s Compassionate Care Scholarship. She is also proud to be Elite Fear Free and Cat Friendly Veterinarian certified.

Abbie is a passionate Missourian and has focused her career on making Missouri the best state to be a pet. Abbie stays engaged in animal welfare by consulting with shelters and serving as a volunteer for national organizations, such as Best Friends Animal Society and the Humane Society of the United States. Prior to attending veterinary school, Abbie served as the Executive Director of National Tiger Sanctuary. In this role, she focused on elevating the standard of care for the animals and implementing new educational initiatives and a wildlife rehabilitation program. She also served on the founding committees for the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, which was the first collaborative effort between animal sanctuaries to end the exploitation of big cats in the US.

Outside of animal welfare, Abbie enjoys bird-watching and spending time with those she loves, including her family, her husband Josiah, and their countless animals.

Alicia Mason

I'm the Operations Coordinator at Shepherd of the Hills Humane Society in Branson, MO. I have been in the animal care industry since graduating from Memphis State University in 1986.  Having worked in several areas of animal welfare, I can understand the many different points of view. My career started as a kennel tech at Orange County Animal Control in Chapel Hill, NC. There, I helped run some of the first Feline Leukemia Tests in a shelter environment before vaccinating for the virus. I then went on to become the hospital manager at Murphy Road Animal Clinic in Nashville, TN. This all lead to my current position with the S.H.H.S. where I have been employed since its establishment 12 years ago. As a community we have come so far in protecting and providing for the animals in our care. I am so proud to be a part of this organization and can't wait to see the positive impact we have on the animals of Missouri.

Brent Toellner

Brent Toellner is the Senior Director, National Programs, for Best Friends Animal Society. In this role Brent oversees all of Best Friends’ regional teams as well as network partner programming and business intelligence. Brent joined Best Friends in 2016 as the Regional Director of the South Central and Great Plains Regions and was responsible for connecting, consulting and collaborating with animal shelters, advocates, spay/neuter groups and rescues across the 11 states in the two regions. Prior to joining Best Friends, Brent, his wife Michelle and a few others co-founded the Kansas City Pet Project (KCPP). In July 2011, they formed KCPP to bid on the contract to run the Kansas City, Missouri, pound — a place where, for decades, more animals died than were saved. Since KCPP took over in January 2012, adoptions have increased by more than 200%. KCPP has had a live release rate of more than 90% for five consecutive years while remaining an open-admission shelter, making KC Pet Project one of the largest open-admission no kill shelters in the nation. In 2017, KCPP finished the year with a 95% Live Release Rate. Brent has a Bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Missouri and a Masters in Marketing Communication from the University of Kansas. Brent lives in Kansas City with his wife Michelle and share their home with both dogs and cats.

Katie Willis

I am married to a wonderful man, named Robert. We have several furry animals with four legs, but no two legged children. I am the Director of the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center. I have held this position since 2016. Previously, I was the Veterinary Technician for the shelter since the year 2000. I received my BS in Biology in 2000. I became a Registered Veterinary Technician in the state of Missouri in 2011. I love my job and I love helping animals in my community. We are proud of our food pantry, low cost spay and neuter and helping with Trap-Neuter-Return programs to lessen the amount of animals coming in and managed intake. I also help lead a large foster program as well. I could not do this without my awesome workers and volunteers. I am working on my Master’s in Veterinary Public Health through the University of Missouri-Columbia. I am married to an awesome guy that loves animals as much as I do. We enjoy camping, going four wheeling in our Jeep and taking care of our zoo. We have 5 dogs, 3 cats, 3 rabbits, 12 chickens, several barn cats, 2 ferrets and out Koi fish. In my spare time, I know funny, I love quilting, reading, and hanging out with friends. I also a member of the Methodist Church and am heavily involved in the United Methodist Women. UMW is a group that helps women, children and youth and is socially active in helping these groups.