Interview! Richard Angelo, Legislative Attorney for Best Friends Animal Society

"Getting those community cat programs started, where cats are not even entering the shelter… it's so key in saving lives."

Richard Angelo, a legislative attorney for Best Friends Animal Society, is a long-time animal welfare advocate who fell into animal law when he ran across the story of a pit bull in need of help. He simply couldn't walk away, and with that case, his move into companion animal law began. For years, Richard had a private legal practice dealing with companion animal issues, and towards the end of that part of his career, he began to get more and more involved with community cat caretakers and the issues they were facing with ordinances that prevented or curtailed TNR efforts.

It was around that time that Richard saw an ad for a legal position at Best Friends. He got the job, and he's been going strong ever since, working on a huge variety of animal-related issues around the country, including legislation around community cats. Richard is very proud of the work Best Friends does to make rapid, lasting changes in the cat live release rate in shelters around the country through community cat programs.

As a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), and vice-chair of its Animal Law Committee, Richard helped convince the ABA to pass a resolution in support of TNR in 2015, making them one of the first non-animal organizations to do so.

Richard advises folks who are having a hard time getting TNR programs going due to legislation in their area to open upon a dialogue with their local shelter and community leaders — and to arm themselves with good data and success stories. He and Stacy both encourage listeners in these situations not to give up. Stacy urges us not to walk away from the cats, as there is always a way to get them the help they need, even if there are ordinances in place that make it more difficult.

To learn more about Best Friends Animal Society, visit bestfriends.org. You can also sign up for legislative alerts specific to your area at bestfriends.org/action, or you can email Richard Angelo directly at [email protected]. To learn more about the American Bar Association's Animal Law Committee, visit apps.americanbar.org, and you can see their TNR resolution by clicking here.