Summit County Councilwoman Claudia McMullin has been named the new executive director of Friends of Animals Utah, a group focused on rescuing homeless pets.

McMullin, a Silver Springs resident, comes to Friends of Animals having worked for decades as an attorney. She expected to quit practicing law when she moved from New York City to Park City.

“But it’s not easy to just change. I moved to a whole new town and my training was legal,” McMullin said in a telephone interview. “I really was just not wanting to be a lawyer I wanted to transition and I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was I wanted to do until it hit me.”

Her colleague, County Councilman John Hanrahan, told her that Friends of Animals was looking for someone to replace outgoing director Cathy King.

“I’m a huge dog lover I would have loved to have been the dog whisperer of Summit County,” McMullin joked. “If I could tailor a job, it always involved dogs. I even thought I could make my living walking dogs.”

Friends of Animals is a Park City-based nonprofit founded in 1990. The group helps animal shelters find owners for homeless dogs and cats. Along with the new rescue ranch, the organization operates the Furburbia pet adoption center at Tanger Outlet Center.

McMullin will take over management of the organization having adopted a dog from Friends of Animals in the past. The pet she adopted became homeless when its owner’s home fell into foreclosure.

“There are a lot of recession animals. People lose their home and they have to go into a rental but the rental doesn’t allow animals. They don’t have a choice,” McMullin explained. “Or they have to choose between feeding their kids and feeding their dog.”

She said she may look at ways to provide care for these animals until pet owners get back on their feet.

“This woman in Pennsylvania started a program where the people who were suffering the hardship didn’t actually have to give up their dogs and their cats,” McMullin said. “They had a place where they would temporarily shelter them and the people who were in financial straits could even come visit them on the weekend.”

As Friends of Animals embarks on fundraising campaigns for next year, McMullin said she can offer leadership skills, management experience and a vast network of contacts.

“For every nonprofit in town these are difficult times. It’s hard in a recession to raise money,” McMullin said. “Pretty much everybody is saying. ‘Please let me know what it is I can do.’ Well, I know who said those words and I’ll be calling them.”

She is scheduled to begin overseeing Friends of Animals in January. McMullin’s appointment follows the recent opening of the group’s 16,000 square foot rescue ranch in Brown’s Canyon.

“That’s where my office is going to be is out at the ranch,” McMullin said. “I’m going to work on programming the ranch and fully utilizing the space.”

Jim O’Neill, board president of Friends of Animals Utah, said the rescue center could eventually house a spay/neuter clinic.

“That helps you tremendously in the community by not having unwanted dogs and cats show up,” O’Neill said in a telephone interview.

According to O’Neill, “I see us in the next 20 years being able to do some really amazing things in the community.”

“We have the space. We have the building. It’s just a question of funding,” he explained.

Board members expect the core of McMullin’s work to involve attracting more donors to Friends of Animals.

“We really feel we need to expand our donor base and properly manage our donors and sponsors,” O’Neill said.

Many people applied for the executive director position. But board members hoped to recruit somebody who lived locally.

“Claudia has such a broad background with her experience with several other nonprofits We’re also impressed with her legal background and the fact that she came into this area and ran a campaign and was voted onto the Summit County Council,” O’Neill said. “Managing people and being a public speaker, those are qualities that are really essential to a good executive director.”