Emily Weiss, ASPCA Vice President, Equine Welfare
Dr. Emily Weiss, Ph.D., oversees strategic direction of the ASPCA Equine Welfare program, a part of the ASPCA’s Policy, Response and Engagement group.
As a Applied Animal Behaviorist, Weiss has worked with species as varied as lions, orangutans, elephants and Komodo dragons, as well as many dogs, cats and horses. Weiss is a lifelong horse owner and trainer and has conducted research regarding adoption and rehoming of horses.
Dr. Weiss leads the efforts at the ASPCA to achieve the goal of all equines have good welfare. The work aims squarely on increasing the rehoming of horses, the development of effective safety net programming and a third focus of effective law enforcement response to cruelty and neglect. She is a founding member of Equine Welfare Data Collective and serves on the Animal Welfare Advisory board of the American Horse Council.
A nationally recognized speaker, Dr. Weiss has published extensively on topics related to applied animal behavior. She also served as the ASPCA’s VP of Research & Development, overseeing ground breaking research related to the animal sheltering field and developing assessment tools for shelter animals. Before that she created training programs to improve husbandry and decrease stress for many zoo animals. In all her work two central questions have driven her approach – Why? And – How do you know? These questions guide a consistent creative and scientific approach to the work of improving welfare.