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Turning love of animals in to an Iowa City career
Devon Strief is the new Iowa City Animal Services coordinator
Alejandro Rojas
Apr. 28, 2024 6:00 am, Updated: Apr. 29, 2024 11:09 am
IOWA CITY — As far back as she remembers, Devon Strief always had a love for animals.
When she was a kid, she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up. After becoming obsessed with “Animal Cops” — an Animal Planet TV show following animal control officers — she thought it would be great to be an officer like that.
“Like I knew that I loved animals,” said Strief, 34. “I just thought how cool would it be to do that someday, and I had no idea where to start.”
But she did find a starting point at Kirkwood Community College, when it launched its humane officer training program. And now 14 years later, Strief is the new animal services coordinator for the Iowa City Animal Shelter.
She started as coordinator in February, replacing Chris Whitmore, who had been with Animal Services for 30 years, including the last four as coordinator until she retired. In her new position, Strief earns $76,128 a year.
Jennifer Read, an animal care technician with Animal Services, said she was excited to have Strief as coordinator, describing her as the perfect person for the position. “Her passion is huge for this industry and I think she's going to bring out a lot of that in the staff, which is what you want in a leader,” Read said.
Animal Services handles a wide range of services pertaining the animal welfare in Iowa City, operating out of the animal shelter located at 3910 Napoleon Lane. Some of these services include adoption, licensing and permits, education for pet owners, rescuing and housing animals. Strief said there are seven full-time employees including her, plus five part-time staffers. The service also has over 500 foster homes working with it.
Lifelong animal lover
Strief was born and raised in Iowa City, and spent most of her life in the city. She studied at City High School while working at Heyn’s Ice Cream and also worked at a dance studio.
Throughout all of this, she always had a love for animals, and like most kids, wanted to keep pets at home. But beyond wanting to have the typical cat or dog, she recounted a few stories where she went a step further — such as when she picked up a lone fox cub she found along the road.
“I didn't know really anything about him, and I guess was abandoned, so I tucked it in my coat and took it home and walked in the house,” Strief said.
Her mom reacted by saying “You did what?” — prompting them to call the emergency vet who recommended taking the animal back to where Strief found it, which she did.
Kirkwood program and work experience
The love of animals, plus the Kirkwood program, combined to make a light bulb moment for her. She said the classes gave students hands-on experience handling animals, as Kirkwood had animals that had been taken from shelters. Students helped technicians with caring for them, and learning more about them.
Strief said students also learned about criminology and psychology during the course.
“While I didn't have a whole lot of experiences with animals while I was doing that, it really put into perspective a better way for me to communicate with people in general,” Strief said. “I was able to bring that back to what I’m doing now and have much more productive conversations with the community, whoever it may be.”
Because of this, she described her work as helping the animals by helping the owners.
Strief said she graduated from Kirkwood in 2012, and moved to Des Moines with her family the same year to work at the Animal Rescue League for three years. The Animal Rescue League is a nonprofit animal shelter that handles adoptions, pet training, spaying and neutering, among other services.
She wanted to work there after hearing about it through her grandmother and instructors at Kirkwood. She worked at the Animal Rescue League as an animal control officer for three years, then worked in domestic violence prevention for two years.
After five years in Des Moines, she said her family made the decision to return to Iowa City to be closer to the rest of their families, and to be close to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, as her child had health needs.
Working at Animal Services
Returning in 2018, Strief said she was a stay-at-home mom and learned that while she loved spending time with her kids, she was not a stay-at-home type.
She initially worked at a dance studio before beginning at Animal Services in March 2020 as kennel assistant. This was her second stint there, as she had been an intern previously while studying at Kirkwood.
Strief said she was three days into the part-time job when the pandemic hit, and she was told she was temporarily being laid off. In her position as kennel assistant, Strief said she was responsible for feeding and bathing the animals, helping with medical stuff, cleaning the shelter and maintenance.
It was a lot of work, sometimes tedious, but it was an important steppingstone for her.
Strief said she had applied to be Animal Services coordinator at the same time as Whitmore. Strief also applied to be an animal control officer — the position Whitmore was vacating to be promoted — but was passed on for both positions.
“I knew I just needed to start somewhere and get my foot in the door,” Strief said. “If I hadn't gotten my foot in the door, I don't think it would have played out the way it did.”
In 2021, a year after joining Animal Services, Strief was promoted to animal control officer, serving there until her promotion this year to replace Whitmore.
‘A really strong leader’
Read, who has been with the Animal Services for 12 years, said she remembered when Strief first arrived as an intern years ago. Even after Strief left Iowa City for Des Moines, Read stayed in touch and said she had enjoyed watching Strief’s career grow.
“I think she's going to be a really strong leader, and she tends to bring out the best in us, too,” Read said. Read also highlighted Strief’s focus on staff mental health, saying it was nice having someone in charge who cared about such an important issue.
Mara Stewart, an Animal Services officer who started in 2022, trained under Strief. She credited Strief with teaching her good ways to communicate with people in the field.
“If you're having a hard day, she's very approachable. You can stand by her office and have a good talk and she's always going to be supportive,” Stewart said. “It's been an easy transition, and I think she's doing really well.”
Comments: alejandro.rojas@thegazette.com