Scott Giacoppo (previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 25) has been involved in animal welfare since 1989. Among other roles, he has worked as an animal control officer and a special state police officer for cruelty investigations. He currently serves as the Director of National Shelter Outreach for Best Friends Animal Society.

In this role, Scott oversees the development of life-saving efficacy and sustainability for animal welfare agencies across the United States. He & his team provide support to each of the eight Best Friends regions, working with the regional teams in each area that are working directly with individual shelters to help them accomplish their missions.

Scott's team works mostly with municipal agencies, and he tells Stacy that more & more agencies are recognizing what we've been doing for decades to decrease the community cat population—trap & remove—is just not working, so more and more agencies are now embracing TNR.

Scott sees this as part of a shift toward animal control becoming more of a proactive resource, instead of just a reactive one, as it has so often been in the past. Scott and Stacy also discuss the "best practices" resources he has helped gather, covering everything from how to do managed intake to how to conduct a dangerous dog investigation. All of these resources are available to download for free on the Best Friends website.

In addition, Scott and Stacy talk about some recent policy changes around cats at the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), including abandoning their support for cat licensing and publicly recognizing that trap and remove does not work to control community cat populations.

To learn more, visit the Best Friends website or email Scott directly. You can find the Community Cats best practices manual here and the Humane Animal Control Manual here.