October 2013 by Scott Trebatoski, MBA, ACO, CET, QETI

Audience: Executive Leadership

Video Length: 40 minutes

For the past two years Jacksonville Animal Care & Protective Services (JACPS) has been named Florida Animal Control Association's "Outstanding Organization of the Year." JACPS has made significant improvements towards no-kill animal control while suffering drastic budget cuts. In 2007 JACPS had an 81% euthanasia rate with a $5 million budget and 62 team members; by 2012 the euthanasia rate had been reduced to 31% while the budget was chopped to $3 million and staff to 44. This behind-the-scenes look at operations given by Scott Trebatoski, Division Chief of Animal Care & Protective Services, will provide insight into this ultra-efficient organization and identify the most effective policies and procedures for no-kill animal control. This talk was part of the Face-to-Face with Feral Freedom workshop brought to you by The Target Zero Institute and Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify progressive animal control policies and assess their impact on shelter deaths.
  • Contrast progressive animal control policies and procedures with traditional policies/procedures and evaluate the impact of each on shelter populations and euthanasia.
  • Differentiate between policies designed to save lives and those designed to simply improve the processing of animals. Justify the more progressive programs.

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    Bio photo of Scott Trebatoski in a white shirt, smiling and holding a small gray cat

    Scott Trebatoski, MBA, ACO, CET, QETI

    After a diverse career in retail, finance and human resources, Scott Trebatoski came to the animal welfare field by way of public animal control. With 12 years in the field, Scott has become known as an innovator, willing to think outside normal conventions and willing to try things others are wary about doing. He has been a Director for the Florida Animal Control Association (FACA) for eight years and rewrote the State of Florida certification course, manual and exams for animal control officers. He has been recognized for running the best agency in Florida by FACA in 2005-06 and 2011-12 (in two different locations). Scott reformed Jacksonville, taking the agency from a live release rate of approximately 17% in 2007 to more than 90% earlier this year.