New Animal Services Director for Santa Barbara County Announced

By the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is pleased to announce that after an extensive recruitment process, Sarah Aguilar has been selected as the new County Animal Services Director. Aguilar brings a wealth of experience in animal welfare and management and has actively led nationally-recognized organizations in leadership development, innovative partnerships, and community engagement.  

Aguilar has been a key leader in various animal-serving organizations, most recently as the Senior Director of Operations at Austin Pets Alive in Austin, Texas, an animal rescue organization serving 12,000 pets annually. Previous to her role in Austin, Aguilar was the National Foster Programs Manager at Greater Good Charities in Seattle, Wash., and Deputy Director of the Pima Animal Care Center in Pima, Ariz. 

“While the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic created significant hardships within the animal welfare world and locally in Santa Barbara County, this period also provided us with an opportunity to reassess, rebuild, and strengthen our programs and services,” shared Deputy Director for Community Health Paige Batson. “We are excited that Sarah will be leading Santa Barbara County Animal Services to a whole new level of achieving best practices, providing quality services for our community animals, and fostering strong partnerships with community stakeholders.” 

Aguilar will be coming to California with her husband, Enrique, and their rescue dogs, Monchi and Luci. Aguilar returns to the Central Coast, previously having worked as the Foster Care Coordinator at Ventura County Animal Services. 

“I am beyond ecstatic to accept the role of Director of Animal Services for this well-established and well-loved organization whose history of success is based on a plethora of rich partnerships,” shared Aguilar. “My goal in leading this organization is to build upon the achievements of the past, maintain a high level of service, and continue to grow our support of the community throughout Santa Barbara County.”

Aguilar officially joins Santa Barbara County Animal Services on Monday, September 19, 2022.