Carla Robinson, the founder of Animals First LA, has spent her life loving animals of all types. She grew up in southern Maryland on the Potomac River, and by age 5 was bringing home injured frogs or abandoned baby ducks to care for after until they could be released. From a young age, Carla had a strong empathy for other living beings and just knew she would be an animal lover and caretaker for life.

After college, Carla went on to work as a professional Park Naturalist with M-NCPPC in Maryland for almost a decade (2005-2014) before moving to Los Angeles. There she managed a small nature center comprised of native, unreleasable raptors, reptiles and amphibians, small mammals, insects and other invertebrates. Carla also taught wildlife education & art classes, did interpretive design and grant writing, managed a small staff, and much more!

Her love of nature & animals, as well as her experience managing animals of all kinds continued to grow since moving here in 2014. During the first few years of living in Los Angeles, Carla worked for another petsitting company caring for dogs and cats, she began volunteering for Angel City Pitbulls walking foster dogs and helping with transporting, as well as working at an exotic animal organization in Sylmar where she provided care & enrichment For 42 chimpanzees, small primates, large cats, and was the lone education outreach staffer.

Animals First LA was officially founded 10 years ago and we have been working hard to serve Los Angeles area pets ever since! We have grown quickly from just a few long-term clients to a full schedule each week, with a few new additions to our client roster each month. We look forward to continuing to provide superior pet care services to you and your loved ones for years to come!

Get in touch

We do our best to be available 24/7 for all of your pet care needs, animal emergencies or questions. Do not hesitate to text, call or email us!

Request a Meeting or Booking

Pet Medical Emergency

Wildlife Emergency

Report Animal Cruelty in LA

Education - Bachelor of Science from University of Maryland

Environmental Science and Policy, specializing in Wildlife Conservation (University of Maryland, College Park MD) graduated 2003,

Professional Experience

• Watkins Nature Center, Maryland -- Park Naturalist II with M-NCPPC(2005-2014)
• Sitter4Paws, Los Angeles, CA -- Dogwalker/Petsitter
• Wildlife Waystation, Sylmar, CA -- Primate Enrichment Coordinator, Animal Keeper & Education Specialist (2014-2015)