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Meet the Staff

Elana Kirshenbaum – Programs Coordinator

Elana with Teddy & Quincy

What does she do? LOTS. She helps answer the always-ringing phone, works diligently to find homes for animals in need that we can’t take, coordinates volunteer schedules and the transport of rescued animals, acts as our community liaison, oversees merchandise, schedules the off-site sanctuary appearances, the animal sponsorships, the school trips here, deals with advertising and product donations, send thank you’s and on and on. Lets just say, she stays busy. And like Jenny and Doug have found, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done.

We’re thrilled to have her join our small staff with her experience gained from starting and running the non-profit organization, Rhode Island Vegan Awareness (RIVA). She is a dedicated activist who works tirelessly on behalf of animals and we’re so thankful to have her.

Sheila Hyslop – Farm Manager

Since the inception of WFAS, Sheila Hyslop has traveled to Woodstock to help out for months at a time with getting this sanctuary off the ground–and the trip is not a short one, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland! This incredibly hard-working friend and volunteer is an unstoppable critter-hugging, coop-cleaning, pig-slopping, barn-mucking, task master whose only reward is our thanks and the appreciation of the animals (the latter gives her immeasurable joy). As an added bonus, there is an almost daily comedy of errors trying to translate her Queen’s English into Americaneeze. We now know that a “plaster” is a band-aid, and “cello tape” is scotch tape.Sheila is the first one up in the morning and the last to come in from the farm at night. She can often be heard cheerfully greeting and singing to the animals as she makes her rounds early in the morning to open the coops and barns and is regularly seen giving out “ kisses and cuddles” (as she likes to say) to any critter at a huggable distance. She has been vegan for over 20 years and would give her last dime to an animal in need if she thought it could help. She is truly a champion of animal welfare causes and is unwavering in her belief that animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on.

ALL of us here at WFAS have so much to thank our sweet Sheila for and we feel so blessed to have such an amazing comrade in our mission to raise awareness about farm animal suffering and our fight to protect them against the cruelties that are imposed on them daily.


Dawnell Kilbourne – Animal Caretaker

Dawnell and Mayla

Dawnell has been with WFAS since 2009, relocating all the way from Yellow Springs, Ohio, to work here. If you visit, you’ll recognize Dawnell as the tiny lady in the cap faithfully followed about the sanctuary by her dog, Mayla (who deserves a bio all of her own and is a regular personality here).  In spite of her size, Dawnell is incredibly strong and tough. In fact, in a recent arm-wrestling competition between herself and Julie Goodloe, stalemate had to be called after it became apparent that they were evenly matched, regardless of the fact that Julie has half a foot on her. We suspect steroid use.

Dawnell came with experience working in an animal refuge in Ohio. She also worked part time in the library system for 20 years. On top of her job as Animal Caretaker Extraordinaire (see all that encompasses in Julie’s bio above), she is an artist and sculpts and paints. According to Dawnell, her life revolves around her work here and she “loves it here… putting good energy out there and educating other people.” A long time vegetarian, she’s been vegan since working here and, although our Animal Caretakers try not to play favorites, Dawnell has a special place in her heart for Jack the Goat.

Dave Miller – Facilities Maintenance Manager

Dave with friend Anne

Dave is our newest full-time staff member, joining us in May 2011. He is known around the sanctuary as The Vegan McGuyver and the job description really does include fixing everything around the sanctuary from misfitting hoses to broken fences. He also stays busy doing construction projects and helping with animal emergencies. Dave came to us after 4 years of driving school buses. Before that, he was the co-owner of a vegan baking business in Philadelphia called V is for Vegan. Even before that, he completed his associate’s in engineering, his bachelor’s in political science at Westchester Community College and has lived in several states.

Dave has identified as a “fixer” all his life, in part because he grew up playing with Legos and Lincoln Logs. He says that his dad taught him many of his handyman skills and instilled in him a love of woodworking. Dave is a committed vegan and has been for going on 9 years. He was made aware of the cruelty-free movement by listening to alternative rock and punk bands such as Propagandhi and Anti-Flag who make music about vegetarian and veganism. A thorough scholar, Dave made the transition to veganism after reading Peter Singer’s “Animal Liberation”. He enjoys reading non-fiction, especially philosophy, gardening, and playing guitar and bass. His favorite veg food is tacos.