WHO
WE ARE
Shelterly is a mission-driven team dedicated to improving disaster response for animals and the people who care for them. We build practical, user-informed tools that simplify sheltering operations, enhance coordination, and support field responders when it matters most.
Our Board of Directors.
Shelterly’s Board of Directors brings together a diverse group of professionals committed to advancing animal disaster response. With deep experience in emergency management, animal welfare, and public service, our Board provides strategic guidance, oversight, and support.
Christina Skaags
President
Christina brings disaster and fundraising experience from her local Search and Rescue team where she serves as President to Shelterly. Her real job was mainly in human medicine (Emergency Medicine and Orthopedic Trauma) with a passion for wilderness medicine and teaching. She loves fostering kittens, running, reading and gardening. Email Christina at christina@shelterly.org
Janice Rosene
Secretary
Janice has been in the Animal Disaster Response field for 15 years. She has been a part of 16 disaster responses, including local, national and international deployments. Janice is currently a member of the North Valley Animal Disaster Group and is on the Disaster Response Team for IFAW. In addition, Janice is a member of the Butte County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team. In her spare time, she is training her second Search and Rescue K9, “Jato”, and is helping her husband build their off-grid, ICF house. Email Janice at secretary@shelterly.org
Chris Milnes
Treasurer
In addition to Shelterly, Chris has extensive experience with disaster response as a volunteer with Search and Rescue. He has spent is professional career in the tech industry and is currently the co-President for a software QA company based in California. When he is not volunteering or working, he enjoys running and spending time with his kids, and dog. Email Chris at chris@shelterly.org
John Peaveler
Outreach Director
John Peaveler is an animal services professional with over 21 years of global experience. He specializes in professional animal rescue, emergency response, and population management. John is the owner of Humane Innovations LLC, through which he provides animal handling and capture training, product sales, equipment development and consultation services for organizations around the world. He has a passion for helping organizations adapt their operations to current expectations using modern equipment and techniques to help them meet the challenges of animal control, care, population management, and disaster response. John is a military veteran who began his animal welfare career in 2004, working with local stakeholders to develop the first progressive animal shelter and animal population management program in Kuwait, which he ran as Managing Director for 11 years. He has built disaster response, animal control, and population management programs from the ground up, balancing practicality with best-practice standards and ethics. He spent three years building one of the largest and most technically competent animal rescue teams in the country, the San Diego Humane Society Emergency Response Team. John is an instructor for the National Animal Care and Control Association and a technical expert for the World Organizaiton for Animal Health. His experience across several continents has made him a frequent speaker and educator on topics including animal handling and capture, animal population management and animal emergency response. John has responded to disasters around the world including across the US, and in Haiti, Japan, Philippines, Ukraine, and Turkey and has played important roles in recent disaster events including the Lahani Fire, Eaton Fire, and Palisades Fire. In addition to extensive work and personal travel, John enjoys the outdoors, ultra-running, canoeing in northern Canada and time with family including his wife, two children, dogs, cats, chickens, and cows. Email John at john@shelterly.org
Our Team.
Shelterly is a mission-driven team dedicated to improving disaster response for animals and the people who care for them. We build practical, user-informed tools that simplify sheltering operations, enhance coordination, and support field responders when it matters most.
Trevor Skaags
Founder/Executive Director
Trevor Skaggs is a disaster rescue professional and software engineer with over 15 years of experience. He specializes in large scale disaster management, technical rescue, and building systems to help solve complex problems. He founded Shelterly in the spring of 2019 as a tool to enable tracking of animals throughout an entire animal crisis. Trevor was the Animal Search Manager for the animal rescue response to the Lahaina Fire on Maui. When Trevor is not working, you can find him trail running with his 3 dogs, reading with his 3 cats, camping, or hanging from the bottom of a helicopter rescuing a stranded hiker.
Alex Mountain
VP of Engineering
Alex is a full stack Web Application Developer with experience in Django, Postgres and React. His favorite outdoor activities are walking, hiking, kayaking and fishing. He enjoys being able to combine his love for animals with his coding skills in order to provide a service that helps both people and animals. He lives in beautiful New Hampshire with his wife, 2 children and 2 very large cats.
Mike Parks
Senior UI/UX Developer
Mike is Senior UI/UX Developer with experience in Django, Postgres and React. When not coding, you’ll often find him experimenting with BBQ, indulging in his love for home fermentery, and immersing himself in VR. He lives in the city of Brotherly Love and always makes time for his wife, 2 wonderful children and his American Pit Bull Terrier Java.
Angelina Martin
VP of Communications
Over the past 11 years, Angelina Martin has worked as CEO of Online Media Solutions, a media agency providing strategic social media solutions through consultation, education, and webinars. She specializes in strategic communications and social media management, AI education and training, and online marketing. Her mission is to help people, help more people and animals in times of need. She lives in Sonoma County and enjoys hiking adventures with rescue dog, Levi.
Our Advisors.
We are deeply grateful to work with our Steering Committee and Advisors.
Kate Leydon
North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG)
Kate has been a volunteer with North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG) since 2008 when she joined as a convergent volunteer during the 2008 Summer of Fires. As an employee of a local non-profit trade association, she had work flexibility and software skills. This meant she could volunteer to do the many behind-the-scenes functions that a CART needs to get done. Upon retirement, Kate was contracted to do some project work for NVADG, ultimately being hired as a part-time NVADG employee. Kate is happy to bring her CART and business experience to the Cal CARTs Board of Directors, and work to move forward the animal response during evacuations. She has been a life-long fan of tall sighthounds, having adopted 3 afghan hounds and 4 retired racing greyhounds. Her current greyhound is Lexi, adopted through Greyhound Friends for Life, located in Sonoma County.
Jenn Cherry
ASPCA
Jenn's bio is coming soon
Devin Bonneau
ASPCA
With over a decade of experience in the animal sheltering world, Devin specializes in handling dangerous and aggressive animals with a calm, expert approach. His career has expanded beyond sheltering to include emergency response for wildland fires, hurricanes, and both large and small animal technical rescues. Passionate about protecting animals and the people who care for them, Devin brings a unique blend of crisis management, hands-on rescue skills, and behavioral expertise to every situation.
Lisa Towell
Napa CART
Lisa has been an animal disaster responder since 2010 and has deployed to both natural disasters and neglect/abuse cases. She is currently volunteering with four CARTs (Community Animal Response Teams) in northern California, and is also a board member of Cal CARTs, where she is contributing to the ongoing standardization of CART roles and training in California. Lisa has also worked as an animal disaster planning consultant, guiding animal shelters through the process of creating a robust animal disaster plan and training their staff members. Lisa previously worked as a program manager at various software companies. She enjoys bringing her program management and technology skills to the rapidly evolving world of animal disaster response.
Lauren Reichel
Napa CART
Lauren was born and raised in Napa. She has degrees in media studies from UCSC and UT Austin and works in pet care. Napa CART volunteers helped evacuate and shelter her horse and two donkeys during the fires in 2017, and she volunteers in hopes of giving other community members and their animals the same support.
Ashley Patterson
CVET
Ashley Patterson is the Associate Director of Operations for the UC Davis California Veterinary Emergency Team (CVET). She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Washington State University and her Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota in 2019. Prior to veterinary school, Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Administration and Planning and worked as an emergency management and planning consultant for Witt O’Brien’s starting in 2010. Following graduation from veterinary school, Ashley worked as an emergency veterinarian in a variety of hospitals and volunteered as a disaster responder. She brings a unique combination of veterinary medicine and emergency management background and is focused on enhancing the veterinary preparedness and response capabilities for the State of California.
Kimberly Carlson
CVET
Kimberly Carlson recently joined the California Veterinary Emergency Team (CVET) as an Operations Specialist. She comes to us from the Livestock Medicine & Surgery Service at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital where she worked as a Livestock Medicine Technician for over 5 years. At the VMTH, she gained valuable experience handling high stress emergency situations and gained extensive knowledge treating cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs transferred for intensive care from multiple major wildfires. Prior to working for the School of Veterinary Medicine, Kimberly earned a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and Management from UC Davis.
Briana Hamamoto
CVET
Briana Hamamoto first joined the California Veterinary Emergency Team (CVET) as an Operations Specialist and is currently the Large Animal Veterinarian. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine as well as her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of California Davis in 2022. While in veterinary school Briana was heavily involved with the Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT) as well as the Northern California Association of Equine Practitioners Emergency Response Team. She gained valuable experience through her time with these organizations and responded to multiple major wildfires in Northern California. She also received training in technical animal rescue and became a trainer for local agencies. Following graduation from veterinary school she worked as an Associate Equine Practitioner in Auburn California. She is focused on enhancing veterinary preparedness as well as providing veterinary care to animals in times of disasters.