Marin Humane Society Names New Executive Director
Renowned "citizen of the world" tapped to lead progressive Bay Area animal protection organization
(NOVATO, CALIF., May 14, 2007) — Neil Trent has been named the new Executive Director of the Marin Humane Society (MHS); in July, he will succeed Diane Allevato, who has held this title since 1980. Currently Executive Director of the Humane Society International (HSI) based in Gaithersburg, Maryland - the international branch of the Humane Society of the United States - Trent, 56, brings more than 30 years of experience in the animal protection field, working on six of the seven continents to improve the lives of animals.
“Neil is a true citizen of the world and brings to the Marin Humane Society and the Bay Area unparalleled global experience,” says Suzanne Golt, President of the MHS Board of Directors. “We are extremely pleased to have hired someone of his caliber.”
Born in Hertfordshire, England, Trent is an internationally recognized leader in animal welfare and has worked closely with the likes of Jane Goodall, Jill Robinson (Animals Asia), and Paul and Heather McCartney to stop animal suffering around the globe. For the past 10 years, he has led the Humane Society International, responding to animals in crisis after the Asian tsunami, replacing dog killing in Sri Lanka with rabies vaccination programs, fighting the dog and cat fur trade in Europe, and drawing attention to the baby seal slaughter in Canada. Among his major accomplishments at HSI, he counts developing a humane slaughter initiative in Indonesia and Malaysia that affects millions of farmed animals, and a dog population program in the Indian subcontinent that is changing the way dogs are perceived and treated in that part of the world. Trent oversees regional offices in Indonesia, Australia, India and the United Kingdom, and travels an average of six months out of the year.
Prior to HSI, Trent worked for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, serving for five years as the Regional Director for North & Latin America, and managing offices in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil and Canada. In this role, he dealt with issues such as companion animal overpopulation, livestock transport and slaughter, and illegal poaching and trafficking in wildlife. Before that, he spent two decades working in various positions at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, starting his career in law enforcement as a humane officer and progressing to the oversight of shelter operations and training in the UK, the Bahamas and Australia.
“Neil personifies the MHS mission,” says Golt. “Along with his experience in all aspects of animal sheltering and management, his ability to inspire compassion for animals across cultural divides is exceptional. He will serve our community well as the Marin Humane Society embarks on its next 100 years.”
For his part, Trent is anxious to leave his globe-trotting lifestyle behind and get back to a situation that allows him, once again, to work directly with individual animals. “When I first started my career, I worked one-on-one with animals and worked very hard to try to improve the plight of an individual dog or cat. That was very rewarding and I look forward to being able to do that again.”
He has long admired MHS’ orientation toward advocacy on animal issues and says, “I am very excited to be joining this leading-light organization and I appreciate that I am filling some very big shoes — Diane [Allevato] has put her lifeblood into the Marin Humane Society.”
Trent will be moving west with his wife Jane and sons William, 11, Oliver, 9, dog Abby and cats Spirit and Spider. Jane is a force of her own in the animal realm, volunteering with a Golden Retriever rescue group as a long-term foster parent for neglected and abused dogs.
Members of the community are invited to meet the new executive director of the Marin Humane Society at the upcoming MHS Centennial Birthday Bash on June 3.
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