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| Keynote Speakers |
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1st World Congress on Mitigating the Risks of Dangerous Dogs
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Dog-Trax North America is pleased to announce the following Keynote Speakers: |
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Adam Goldfarb brings a wealth of experience to the 1st World Congress. Previously, Adam served as the Dangerous Dog Issues Specialist for the Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s largest animal protection organization. Adam now serves as the Director of the Pets At Risk Program, where he focuses on several issues regarding the human relationship with domesticated animals for HSUS. |
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Adam Goldfarb, Director, Pets at Risk Program, HSUS Topic: Chaining Dogs |
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Adam researches and addresses community concerns about dangerous dogs, recommending approaches that look beyond a dog’s particular breed or bloodline into behavior and responsible pet ownership. He gives special importance to issues surrounding the inhumane and often dangerous practice of long-term chaining or tethering of dogs. Adam has testified at the state and local levels on this issue and regularly helps activists around the country to pass chaining and tethering ordinances in their communities. Adam also focuses on pet rabbits, discouraging impulse purchases of these animals and educating people about the unique needs of these pets.
Adam joined The HSUS in 2004. He is a graduate of Tufts University in Boston. His previous work with animals includes volunteering at The Humane Society at Lollypop Farm in Rochester, N.Y. |
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Dr. Hunter has received grants from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at WVU and from the Canadian Embassy in the United States to pursue animal policy. Dr. Hunter has agreed to evaluate the results of the planned proof-of-concept pilot for the Dog-Trax Dangerous Dog Early Detection System. |
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Michael Oswald: Fully 23 years ago, in Multnomah County, Oregon, without acquiring a global view of the problem of dangerous dogs and based solely on data generated within his own county, Mike and a collection of stakeholders with no particular animal policy expertise, together created and set into motion a comprehensive dangerous dog program that has not been replicated to this day, anywhere else in the world. From the smallest issues, (not categorizing dogs that have not bitten as "dangerous" but as "potentially-dangerous", which is more accurate AND more palatable to their owners), to the biggest issues, (categorization of dogs by risk factors rather than breed), their conclusions and corrective actions mirror those of a 3-year multi-national investigation that occurred decades later under the guidance of a thought leader and subject matter expert. Three years after implementing their program, a formal study revealed that Multnomah County Animal Control was able to reduce their dangerous dog rebite rate from 25% down to 7%.
To say that this was visionary somehow seems to be a shameful understatement. It's a spectacular achievement.
Now called the "Multnomah County Model" it serves as a snapshot of what the future holds for Animal Control agencies around the world, and offers a bright promise for the safety of our communities.
Mike obtained his Masters Degree in Public Administration in 1990 from Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. He has 25 years of public sector executive management experience in Multnomah County, Oregon, and for the last 15 years as the Director of Multnomah County Animal Services Division.
Multnomah County Animal Services is an extensive animal care and control agency serving the Portland-metro area: five cities, 717,000 people; $4.5 m annual budget; 45 employees, and 250 volunteers. MSCA is a full service animal shelter (10,000 animals/year); has an American Animal Hospital Association Accredited Shelter Medicine program and facility, with staff veterinarian and Certified Vet Tech Team. In addition, there is a 24/7 Field Services program covering emergency animal rescue, potentially dangerous dog enforcement, bite and rabies quarantine, cruelty investigations, and animal ordinance enforcement services.
At various times in his career, Mike has served on the National Animal Control Association Board of Directors, was a member of the faculty for the American Humane Association Executive Training Program, was an Oregon State Legislative Task Force member for Exotics, Animal Cruelty, and Potentially-Dangerous/Dangerous Dog legislation, and authored the academic journal article: “Report on the Potentially Dangerous Dog Program, Multnomah County, Oregon”. Anthrozoös, Vol. IV, Number 4, Spring (1991).
Mike will cover the specifics of the Multnomah County Model in detail at this event. |
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Guest Speaker: Dr. Gary Landsberg is a 1976 graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, and is board certified in the field of veterinary behavior by both the American and European behavioral colleges. Dr. Landsberg is a partner in two companion animal practices in Thornhill, Doncaster Animal Clinic and Steeles Veterinary Services as well as a partner in a veterinary and dermatology referral practice, North Toronto Animal Clinic, where he offers behaviour consulting on a referral basis for dogs and cats with behaviour problems. |
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Dr. Gary Landsberg, ACVB, ECVBM-CA, recipient 2000 AAHA “Friskies” Award for Companion Animal Behavior |
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Dr. Landsberg is extremely active in a wide range of activities related to veterinary behavior. He is the co-authour of a veterinary behaviour textbook, the Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat, and has also authored numerous behavioural resources for pet owners including a set of behaviour pamphlets from the American Animal Hospital Association and a CD of behaviour handouts from Lifelearn.
He has also been involved in numerous clinical studies and has authored an extensive list of articles and book chapters on such diverse topics as drug and pheromone therapy, cognitive dysfunction in pets, reward based training, barking, handling and restraint, medical causes of behavior problems, urine marking in cats and canine and feline anxiety disorders and aggression.
He previously hosted his own radio show on CFRB in Toronto and a TV show on the Life Network and continues to appear regularly in the media. |
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He is on the editorial board and has published articles in Puppy and Dog Basics, Cat Basics, Veterinary Therapeutics, and DVM Magazine and is a consultant for Pet TV and on the Veterinary Information Network. In 2000 he was recipient of the American Animal Hospital Association companion animal behavior award.
Dr. Landsberg also has a strong interest in education and training. He is a frequent speaker at veterinary conferences around the world as well as for veterinary technicians, veterinary staff, veterinary and technician students, the pet trade, humane organizations, kennel club and at public presentations such as the All About Pets Show. He has been the mentor for 4 residency programs in veterinary behaviour, including three that are ongoing. For more details on Dr. Landsberg, his clinic and his behaviour referral services, please visit his website at www.northtorontovets.com. |
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Tamara Follett is an internationally-recognized thought leader and Subject Matter Expert in Mitigating the Risks of Dangerous Dogs. Tamara was Principal Investigator in the 2004-2007 North American Dangerous Dogs Investigation, the Technical Lead for the formal Dangerous Dogs Risk Assessment, and has authored a series of revolutionary tools, methodologies, and guides now available free from the websites, www.PreventDogBites.com and www.PreventDogBites.ca. Included are: |
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| Tamara Ann Follett
President/CEO
Dog Trax North America |
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7-Step Dangerous Dog Risk Mitigation Protocol -- The 7 corrective actions identified in the formal Dangerous Dog Risk Assessment that are necessary to stop dog bites without relying on breed bans, and without infringing on the rights of responsible owners. |
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Dogs of Fury: The Solution to Vicious Dogs -- Ground-breaking free e-book providing details on the 2004-2007 Dangerous Dogs Investigation and providing background and justification for the 7-Step Protocol. |
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Dog-Trax Dangerous Dog Early Detection and Tracking System -- The world's first internet-based centralized, universal database for tracking "problem" dogs and owners, and for identifying "high-risk" dogs before they seriously injure or kill. |
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Public Sightings of Problem Dogs -- A free service that empowers communities to serve as the “eyes and ears” of the universally under-staffed under-funded Animal Control agencies
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Canine Threat Assessment Guide (C-TAG) -- A free methodology and worksheet that enables authorities to compare/rank dogs using objective risk factors, so limited municipal resources can be focused on those dogs posing the greatest danger to their families and the public. |
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As a long-time owner and breeder of one of the most aggressive of the protection dog breeds, Tamara is uniquely qualified to assess the practicability and fairness of existing controls on dangerous dogs, and to propose additional controls which specifically target the source of the problem – not specific breeds of dogs, but any dog at high risk of attack, as well as irresponsible owners and breeders. In addition, Tamara has voluntarily complied with the controls she is suggesting for many years, demonstrating their feasibility. |
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Tamara designed the Dog-Trax Dangerous Dog Early Detection System as part of the solution to the escalating problem of dog-human attacks. Having survived a Level-5 attack by a Husky decades earlier, she created this system with the vision of reducing the incidence of dog-human attacks and Dog Bite-Related Fatalities by offering a better alternative to legislators and decision-makers than breed bans.
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Tamara has a M.S. in Computer Science, taught Risk Assessment, and has published two earlier books. |
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