Who We Are

Caitlin Lisle, strategist, shelter partnerships (Utah)

Caitlin Lisle of Best Friends Animal Society holding one of her dogs

mountainwest@bestfriends.org

Caitlin Lisle is a strategist for the state of Utah, joining the team in March 2023. She will be working and supporting Utah shelters to increase their lifesaving capabilities and establish lifesaving programs and initiatives to help them reach no-kill by 2025.

Caitlin started her career in animal welfare in 2007, at the Humane Society of Utah. Throughout her 15 years with the organization, Caitlin took on many roles. She started out as a clinic receptionist and eventually became the clinic supervisor. She then went on to become the community outreach manager, facilitating various adoption events throughout the community. She became passionate about animal behavior and moved to the behavior and transfer department, where she helped assess animals for adoption, provided enrichment, playgroups, educated adopters, and trained volunteers on animal behavior. She also networked with rescues to help place animals with medical and behavior needs who entered the shelter.

In 2016, she took all her experience, knowledge, and college education to create a humane education department. This program heavily focuses on teaching kids’ empathy for both animals and each other. She and her dogs visited many classrooms, teaching kids about the importance of animal shelters, how to responsible pet owners, and how to be safe around animals. She also ran an 8-week summer camp program for ages 6-13 that focused on a variety of animal welfare topics. One of her top accomplishments was getting a humane education elective implemented at a local middle school that she taught year-round. 

Caitlin shares her home with five dogs, Humphrey, Hazel, Eleanor, Winifred, and Shortbread. She also volunteers with other local animal welfare groups. She is the dog foster coordinator for Ruff Haven Crisis Sheltering and hangs out with farm animal friends at Clementine Ranch on the weekends.