Interview! Rob Leinberger, President, National Animal Care and Control Association

Rob Leinberger has been in the animal control game for 25 years—first starting as a veterinary assistant in high school, then working as an animal control officer for Chesterfield County in Virginia. He is the president of the National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA), and in January of 2016 he became the Animal Control Supervisor of Richmond Animal Care and Control, where he gives basic training to new officers.

Over his extensive career, Rob notes that he has seen a sizable shift in the attitude towards and treatment of community cats, which began with small, isolated groups working to make their own programs for community cat care and colony management. He recommends finding opportunities to connect and collaborate with local entities whenever possible (police, health department, even small businesses) in order to build a strong support network for small animal welfare organizations. If enough localities successfully implement community cat programs, he says, one can affect change on a larger scale.