The CARE Team
Weng Horak
CARE STL Founder & CEO
weng@icarestl.org
Weng Horak is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Animal Rescue and Enrichment of St. Louis - CARE STL, a Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) led organization. Weng is Asian-American who immigrated to St. Louis in 2009 and founded the organization in 2018 to create a supportive community rooted in collaboration, compassion, and caring for people and animals. Weng envisions a world where all animals are nurtured in body, mind, and heart. CARE STL operates the City of St. Louis Animal Care and Control facility with a live release rate of 96.64%. Weng leads the organization by implementing animal regulation ordinances, especially the spay and neuter ordinance, pet rabies registration, and microchipping for the pets of the City of St. Louis residents. She works collaboratively with the City of St. Louis Department of Health to enforce the city laws relevant to animal care and control. Weng achieved her Master of Business Administration at the Philippine School of Business Administration and has lived in the United States since 2009. She is a Certified Public Accountant and ISO Certified Internal Auditor. She is a member of the Society of Animal Welfare Organizations, a member of the National Association of Tax Professionals, and a member of the Construction Financial Management Association, and several CFO organizations. Her peers recognize Weng as a forward-thinking, results-oriented & hands-on leader with over 26 years of progressive work experience in finance, accounting, HR, and operations. In 2020, Weng was recognized for her innovative, solution-oriented work for the City of St. Louis Animal Care shelter. She was featured on several major networks and publications, including People Magazine, USA Today, Access Hollywood, NBC, and KSDK's Making a Difference segment of Channel 5 News. These public relations opportunities recognized her leadership of CARE STL and were not paid promotional editorials. Weng was invited to speak at the Best Friends National Conference for leaders who are involved in animal welfare. Weng published and shared her knowledge about “Turning Your Municipal Shelter into a No-Kill Shelter.” Weng was also recently named 2022 Titan 100 CEO - a program recognizing St. Louis’ Top 100 CEO & and C-level executives. In February 2023, Weng was officially recognized with 40 women as Best Selling Authors AND Best Selling International Author for her published book Resilience - Deconstructing G.R.I.T. Collection: 40 Women share inspiring stories of perseverance despite adversity and choose to walk through life with purpose, persistence, and awareness.
Dr. Keri Morgan,
Medical Director
DVM, MPH
medical@icarestl.org
Dr. Morgan is the Medical Director at CARE STL. In such as short time, Dr. Morgan improved medical protocols and guidelines for animal care/feeding/welfare, with special attention paid to minimizing animal stress and decreasing the length of stay. She daily assesses population health through data analysis, rounds with the leadership team, and addresses population-level issues through changes to protocols, policies, and/or procedures. She also leads, guides, and consults shelter volunteer veterinarians and part-time veterinarians on medical treatment plans for animals in our care. Dr. Morgan actively participates as an executive team member; attends applicable meetings, and participates in strategic planning for the organization. She provides training and mentorship for veterinary staff and maintains an atmosphere of conducive continuous learning. Dr, Morgan is personally hands-on in individual animal care, including physical exams, vaccinations, prescribing and administering medications; ordering and performing appropriate diagnostics; competently performing medical and surgical procedures safely and efficiently. She ensures that all state and federal laws, state regulations, and accepted standards regarding veterinary operations, drug control, and best veterinary medicine practices are adhered to. Dr. Morgan graduated from the University of Missouri with a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and a Master's in Public Health. She settled in St. Louis after graduating, but she is originally from Atlanta and attended the University of Georgia (go bulldogs!) Dr. Morgan specialized in hospice care and euthanasia for dogs and cats before transitioning to shelter medicine. She especially loves emergent and supportive care. In her downtime, Dr. Morgan enjoys running and hiking with her dogs Nemo and Vanya and cuddling with her two cats, Washington and Benjamin.
Emily Adelmann,
Director of Clinic Services
medical@icarestl.org
Emily is the Director of Clinic Services at CARE STL She has been with several non-profits before joining our team. She is very experienced in working with severe cases in a fast-paced trauma vet clinic. Emily handles all foster medical concerns and the clinic emergency phone. She ensures all our animals get the proper medical care by coordinating with our vets and outside the emergency clinic. You can always reach her at medical@icarestl.org.
Abbey Ayala,
Director of Community Services
abbey@icarestl.org
Abbey is the Director of Community Programs at CARE STL, passionate about working with shelter animals and the people who care for them. She believes in the philosophy of compassionate sheltering at CARE STL, ensuring each animal's physical, emotional, and mental well-being throughout its stay at the shelter, in foster care, and beyond. Before joining CARE, Abbey worked with the dog foster team at LifeLine Animal Project’s DeKalb County Animal Services in Atlanta, GA, an open-admission, high-capacity animal shelter striving to maintain a high life-saving rate. Abbey believes in CARE STL’s mission to improve the lives of the people and animals of the City of St. Louis and advocates for a holistic approach to sheltering.
Abbey completed her M.A. in Art History at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, and her B.A. in Art History and Dance. She has also completed various trainings: Fear Free Shelter Certification (January 2023), Introduction to Human-Animal Support Services (HASS) (February 2023 and August 2023), Customer Service Training in the Animal Welfare Field (August 2023), and webinar training on foster-centric sheltering, Adopter’s Welcome philosophy, heartworm, canine and feline URI, and parvo.