Jillian Sergio, CAWA
Jillian is CAA’s Executive Director, starting April 2019. Previously, Jill was CAA’s Outreach Manager overseeing the Communications, Adoptions, Foster, Rescue, and Volunteer departments. Her work depended on coordination with our veterinary, intake, and kennel teams. During her time away, she was the Manager of the Steamboat Springs, Colorado public shelter. Prior to working in animal welfare, Jill’s background included nonprofit program management. Together with her husband, Joseph, and her son, Milo, their family has 2 dogs: Lizzy and Poppie, both CAA alum, and Sebastian, their cat.
Tanner hernandez, DVM
Dr. Tanner Hernandez is CAA’s Medical Director. Dr. Tanner attended LSU SVM and graduated with his DVM in 2020. During his coursework, he also became certified in small and large animal acupuncture. After graduation, Dr. Tanner participated in a one year internship in shelter medicine at LSU SVM that allowed him to split time between LSU and CAA. After his internship was over, he spent a year working in a high-volume, low-cost practice. Dr. Tanner loves teaching and loves being able to help animals that have no one to advocate for them. To him, CAA is the perfect fit because he gets to help teach veterinary students, as well as, treat animals that are down on their luck. Dr. Tanner married his wife Cassie in 2021 and together they have one cat, Babs, a special needs CAA alum, and three dogs: Doug and Noodle, both CAA alum, and Bette.
j.t. hackett
J. T. joined the team in June 2019 as our Programs Director. Earlier in her career, J. T. and her husband, Michael, owned and operated a pet boarding and daycare facility for 13 years. JT also managed an animal health clinic for 2 years. JT’s responsibilities at CAA include organizing and coordinating the many volunteers who help at the shelter, running the retail store, and developing and managing other programs. She especially loves getting to know the volunteers! Besides caring for her own children, Ford and Estelle, at home, her family also consists of two cats: Fiona and Pikachu, CAA alum, and two dogs: Benji and Dougie, CAA alum.
JT is the primary caretaker for our Shelter Animal Ambassador Rabbit, Mary Hoppins!
Sonia Sanchez
Sonia joined our team in November 2020 as Operations Director. She has always had an extraordinary passion for animals of all kinds. In 2011 she found herself in the heart of animal welfare as a member of a special needs animal rescue organization, beginning her efforts to advocate for animals in need. While assisting with TNR efforts in her hometown and educating middle school children on humane care and the animal overpopulation crisis, Sonia also managed the parish animal control department. During her 5 year tenure, she was able to increase her shelter's live release rate as well as reduce intake rates significantly. Outside of the shelter, Sonia’s greatest accomplishments are her three children. She is a proud “Lolly” to a beautiful grandson, and pet mom to dogs, cats, and chickens.
Paula Shaw
Paula began her career in Animal Welfare in 2011. Since then she has held numerous positions with CAA. Currently, she is our Pets for Life (PFL) Director. As an official PFL mentorship partner of the Humane Society of the United States, CAA’s PFL program addresses inequity in pet resources and provides services to people and their pets through door-to-door outreach. She has always been in awe of the strength of the human-animal bond, but never more so than in the underserved parts of our communities. Paula has a Master's in Music degree from LSU. While not serving the people and pets of Baton Rouge, she is devoted to her son Thomas, and their pets.
elizabeth fudge
After serving as a volunteer starting in 2015, Elizabeth’s employment at CAA began as an Adoption Counselor for two years and later as the Foster and Rescue Coordinator for another year. She oversaw intake data and record keeping, as well as animal medical care at the West Baton Rouge Animal Shelter for just under a year before returning to CAA as the Intake Department Manager for more than two years before moving into her role as Client Care Manager for an additional two years. She now serves as our Shelter Senior Manager. Elizabeth believes the most important part of her job is making each animal feel as comfortable as possible as they are transitioning into the shelter environment.
Elizabeth is the primary caretaker for our Shelter Animal Ambassador Parakeet, Shrimp!
Holly Danielson
Holly began her journey at CAA as an adoption counselor in 2020 just before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Since that time, CAA has evolved exponentially, as has she. After serving as one of our Client Care Supervisors for roughly 2 years, Holly was our Grants and Communications manager before moving into her current role as our Development & Grants Senior Manager. Her favorite part of this role is just how important it is to the success of CAA. She enjoys being an advocate for not only the animals but also our organization as a whole. Holly is the primary caretaker for our Shelter Animal Ambassador Ferret, Scooter (pictured)!
Heidi Wetherbee
Heidi is our Communications & Events Senior Manager. With a background in event planning and LSU Sports fan engagement, Heidi is an exciting new addition to our leadership team!
Collins fairley
Collins has always had a love for animals from big to small, furry to scaly, and everything in between. Collins graduated from LSU with a B.S. in Natural Resources Ecology and Management where she turned her passion for animals into her career. Collins has experience in many parts of the zoo field as an outreach educator and animal keeper. Collins joined CAA in November of 2020 as the Foster Program Manager. Her role is to connect our foster volunteers to the amazing animals that come through CAA in hopes to help them decompress outside of the kennel and receive some love until their new home is found. While not serving the dogs and cats of CAA, she is a pet owner to her cat Loki and her dog, CAA alum, Nicky.
Jen Hollas
Jen joined our Client Care team in 2021 and is now CAA's Rescue and Transport Manager. She moved to Baton Rouge from Southern California to attend LSU where she is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in Leadership, Sociology, and Communications. Jen is mom to 2 pets, Gibby and Juju (both CAA alums), and one CAA foster dog, Ollie. On her days off, Jen enjoys reading a good rom-com novel and shopping. One of the things Jen loves about working at CAA is being able to advocate and find homes for the harder-to-place animals in our care.
Kate Crochet
Kate began her journey with CAA in September 2020 as a member of our Intake Department while she was in school at LSU studying for an undergraduate degree in Animal Sciences. Recently Kate rejoined our CAA team as our Cat Care Supervisor. Her degree along with her experience gained while working summers in a veterinary clinic, as well as her general love for animals, has prepared her well for this role. Kate’s skills in event planning have positively impacted several philanthropic endeavors that are near and dear to her heart. Outside of work, she loves spending time with friends, especially if sushi is involved!
Sierra Uselton
Sierra joined the CAA client care team in 2021 and currently works as one of our Client Care Co-Supervisors. Her favorite part of her job is watching pets start their new lives with their new families! Before Sierra joined our team, she was no stranger to the rescue world. She divided her time between working and volunteering at other local animal shelters since 2013 when she learned that helping animals is her passion! She recently graduated from LSU with a B.S. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management. Her experiences at LSU helped to broaden her exposure past cats and dogs to other animals like birds, reptiles, and fish too! Outside of the shelter, Sierra enjoys traveling to new hiking destinations especially if she is able to start a campfire to roast some marshmallows!
Kathleen Hixon
In 2021, Kathleen joined CAA as an adoption counselor and is currently serving as a Client Care Co-Supervisor. Originally from New Orleans, Kathleen moved to Baton Rouge to study at LSU, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Mass Communication. She believes the skills she has learned in school help her effectively communicate with potential adopters. Kathleen’s favorite part of the job is being able to advocate for animals in less-than-ideal circumstances and being able to give them as much love as she can while they are in our care. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and watching movies. Kathleen is also a proud dog mom to Kiba, CAA alum.
