What changes when animal control moves beyond enforcement and starts with empathy?
In this episode of Top Dog Podcast, we sit down with Christina Avila, Animal Control Services Supervisor for the City of Perris, to talk about her unconventional journey into animal welfare and the experiences that shaped her approach to leadership, community engagement, and animal control.
Christina shares how her career took her from animal science and veterinary work to the DMV and auto industry before eventually bringing her back to animal welfare. After more than a decade in the field, she reflects on the importance of communication, empathy, and understanding the people behind every animal.
In this conversation, we discuss:
✔ Christina's unexpected journey into animal welfare
✔ Her transition from kennel technician to animal control officer and supervisor
✔ Why engagement can be more effective than enforcement alone
✔ The importance of connecting people with resources
✔ How empathy can change the way animal control officers approach their communities
✔ Learning from personal experiences and using them to serve others
✔ Building trust through communication and understanding
✔ How supportive leadership helped Christina grow professionally
✔ Managing teams through empathy, communication, and reflection
✔ The changing role of animal welfare in local communities
✔ Christina's advice to her younger self
✔ The legacy she hopes to leave through the people and animals she has helped
For Christina, animal welfare isn't just about enforcing ordinances. It's also about understanding people's circumstances, finding solutions, and recognizing that helping animals often means helping the people who care for them, too.
Learn more about tools supporting animal welfare organizations at https://doobert.com/
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