FOTAS Staff

Friends of the Animals relies heavily on close to 200 volunteers who generously and lovingly contribute more than 50,000 hours per year. We have a minimum of paid staff, full and part-time, to help organize the efforts of our volunteers.

The FOTAS Shelter office is located in the Jackson County Animal Shelter, 5595 S Pacific Hwy, Phoenix, OR 97535.

Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 11 AM to 4 PM and Weekends, Noon to 4 PM. PHONE: (541) 708-0090 | Email the FOTAS Shelter office

Our administrative office (by appointment only) is located at 1875 Hwy 99 N, Suite B-10, Ashland, OR 97520. PHONE: (541) 708-0090 | Email the FOTAS Admin office

Mailing address: PO Box 1153, Ashland, OR 97520. We do NOT receive mail at either of our physical offices.

FOTAS Staff List

Megan Ayars, Operations Manager email

Mitzi Scheerer, Development Director email

Andrew Long, Volunteer Services Manager email

Liz Obelenus, Support Services Associate email

Terri Frazier, Cat Foster Program Coordinator email 

Dena Vogt, Dog Foster Program Coordinator email 

Eliza Kauder, Bookkeeper, Donor Management, Development Coordinator, Vaccination & Microchip Clinic Coordinator email

Friends of the Animals Community Spay & Neuter Clinic Staff List:

Victoria Wade, Clinic Manager email 

FOTAS Board of Directors

Friends of the Animals, like most non-profit organizations, is run by a Board of Directors. FOTAS’ employees report to and are accountable to the Board. The Board sets policy and direction for the organization. It also oversees the organization’s finances, fundraising and promotion.

At our Board meetings, the input of each member is valued and weighed in a creative atmosphere. All members of the Board are uncompensated volunteers.

If you would like to be considered for a position on our Board, please send us an email for more information.

BOB CROWLEY – PRESIDENT

After 33 years of service with AT&T, Bob and his wife, Jo Cooper, moved from California in 2014 to a home on five acres in Ashland. Both Bob and Jo decided to spend a lot of their time benefitting animals by volunteering for FOTAS. In 2017, Bob started walking dogs at the Shelter and then became a weekly participant in the dog’s “Playing for Life” playgroup program. Over time, Bob eagerly became involved with a little bit of everything at the Shelter.

In 2018, Bob was elected to the Board of Directors, and when they needed someone to get the new spay/neuter trailer ready for surgeries, Bob raised his hand. 

When Bob isn’t volunteering for FOTAS, he can usually be found working on their property or kayaking with Jo. He enjoys woodworking projects and, of course, taking care of their animals. They have six dogs, all of whom were rescued, 4 Rescues and 2 from the Jackson County Animal Shelter, Eddie and Darla. In September 2020, Bob and Jo fostered a large dog, Eddie, who ended up at the Shelter’s temporary set-up at the Expo Center during the evacuation prompted by the Almeda fire. A few months later, Eddie became a permanent member of their household. Prior to adopting Eddie, they fostered Darla, who had some medical issues that would make her challenging to put up for adoption. She, too, never left this loving home. In addition, Bob and Jo also have 10 cats and 2 miniature donkeys. All the cats were rescued from the streets or abandoned.

BECKY COHN – VICE PRESIDENT

Becky joined FOTAS in 2012 as a dog walker. She soon learned that the Shelter was often filled with Pit Bull mixes and her concern led to the founding of the Pit Crew together with other dedicated volunteers. Becky became President in January 2021.

Becky moved to Talent on a 10-acre farm in 2011. She and her husband raise animals and she tends a large veggie and fruit garden, and also works training dogs.

Prior to moving here, Becky was a Foreign Service Officer with the Agency for International Development. Her family spent many years overseas including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Jamaica, and Barbados.

An avid dog lover, Becky has 5 dogs of her own, 3 of which are rescues: one from a kill shelter in Fresno and two 9-year-old Chihuahuas adopted from the Jackson County Animal Shelter.

JOHN LITTLETON – SECRETARY

John Littleton is a lifelong cat lover, a happy “staff member” for his former pets Kelly, Bo, Phoebe, and Juno, and forever thankful for how his life has been so enriched by their presence. His most recent “employer,” Juno, was a feral cat who “adopted” John after appearing in the yard during a heavy snow. It helped that Juno looked exactly like Phoebe, John’s indoor cat. Fortunately, with Phoebe indoors and Juno outdoors, both get along well.

John found his professional calling with computers early in life and is now retired after a 35 year career in Information Technology serving in technical and management roles with National Semiconductor, National Cash Register (NCR) and other financial service organizations. John migrated from California in 1994 to Albany, Oregon, later moved to Brookings, and finally settled in the Rogue Valley, finding “all four seasons” offered a wide variety of year round outdoor activities.

John is no stranger to volunteering, helping to establish new Scout Troops in California and Oregon and serving on the Rogue Community Health Board for six years as Secretary and Treasurer. After retiring, John became a FOTAS volunteer in September 2022, and works with cats, cleaning kennels and providing loving socialization. He also volunteers with the  Working Cats adoption program and is a regular volunteer for the many FOTAS outreach events.

John’s personal interests: Travel, SCUBA diving, science, culinary adventures, wildlife, the arts, interesting people, and cats of all kinds.

MATT BOLTON – TREASURER 

Matt Bolton started work in animal health in 2003 for Schering-Plough, selling pharmaceuticals and advising veterinarians from Eugene, Oregon to Napa, California. After leaving Schering-Plough, he joined Pfizer Animal Health, now called Zoetis, where he completed his veterinary sales career.

His calling to veterinary medicine made him feel like a lottery winner. Working with people committed to bettering the lives of pets and pet parents was marvelous. After 15 years in the industry, he was ready to make a change and leave the comforts of corporate employment to enjoy self-employment.

Joining Andria Saxon to start Pawsitive Wellness Veterinary Care allows him to continue giving the highest possible care to furry family members in the Eugene area.

Matt resides in Medford, Oregon, with his wife, Lorna, and three rescue dogs, Livvie, Bennie, and Buddy. Lorna is a previous board member with Friends of the Animals and volunteers over 1000 hours a year to enhance the lives of shelter pets.

Members-at-Large

AIDEN COSTELLO

Aiden Costello is a veterinarian and owner of “a” street animal clinic in Ashland, OR.  He graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2009 and has lived in the Rogue Valley since 2012.  Aiden has had a long history of working with shelter animals and participating in high-volume spay and neuter clinics both prior to and after becoming a veterinarian.  As a technician he helped to establish the facility for the Bend Spay and Neuter Project in Bend, Oregon helping Dr. Byron Maas to carry out 50-60 feline spays per day.  

In his first position as a veterinarian he worked for Dr. Jeffrey Young and would set up a spay and neuter clinic in a local gymnasium in Eastern Colorado and regularly hold high-volume spay and neuter clinics.  He also participated in a traveling clinic to provide these services on Native American reservations in Wyoming and Montana.

At “a” street animal clinic he has worked with SNYP, Jackson County Animal Control, SNIP (in Yreka, CA) ,So Humane and the Street Dog project to provide low-cost  procedures to the community.

Aiden joined the FOTAS board as a consultant to help develop a much-needed spay and neuter mobile clinic program, and is happy to help in providing this service to the Rogue Valley.

He lives with his wife, Dr Jessica Voellm and their cats Gigi and Weeone and their newly adopted shelter dog Shelby.

LISA FRANKEL

Prior to moving to Southern Oregon, Lisa volunteered with Furkids, the largest no-kill shelter in the Southeast. She fostered dogs, including moms and puppies, participated in outreach events, and facilitated adoptions. When Lisa moved to Ashland in 2022, she immediately sought out volunteer opportunities with FOTAS. She currently walks dogs, is a runner for playgroups, and is part of the holding crew. She also volunteers with Rogue Valley Street Dogs, an organization which offers assistance to animals of the unhoused and people with very low incomes, focusing on spay/neuter services.

Lisa lives in rural Ashland with her husband, teenage son, pit mix Zorro and blue heeler Annie (adopted from JCAS in December of 2023). She loves to garden and spend time outside.

Lisa also volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the foster care system and is a member of the local Soroptimist chapter, which focuses on improving the lives of women and girls. Lisa is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, serving in Estonia and the Dominican Republic. She worked in Human Resources for both public and private organizations throughout her career.

GEORGE HINES

An animal lover, George Hines grew up with dogs (Snoopy and Joe) and a cat (Domino) and eventually met his soul dog, Bradley (a Rat Terrier Mix), in 2017 when George and his wife visited him at an animal rescue in Arizona. “I never realized until adopting Bradley that animals don’t have a voice unless we give them one. The unconditional love they give and impact they have on our lives is absolutely humbling, and I know that giving them a voice is one of the most important things I can do. Helping a dog get adopted into a loving home is part of my purpose now thanks to what I have learned from Bradley.” (Sadly, Bradley has passed away.)

After moving to Medford, Oregon, George began volunteering to walk and handle dogs at the Jackson County Animal Shelter in February 2022. George and his wife Wendy regularly donate to organizations that promote animal welfare.

Professionally, George serves as the Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation & Technology Officer for Lithia Motors, Inc. and focuses on the use of technology and data for the competitive advantage of Lithia. He is passionate about creating delightful, frictionless experiences with innovative technologies and completed sturdies in the Stanford d.School for Design Thinking and Innovation.

Additionally, George has lived and worked in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Spain and the United Kingdom. He holds a B.S. in MIS from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.