Margaret Slater, DVM, PhD; ASPCA®
Senior Director of Research, Strategy & Research, ASPCA
Dr. Slater obtained her DVM and PhD in epidemiology from Cornell University. Dr. Slater was a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University from 1990 until 2008 when she joined the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She continues as an Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M University. She is also a Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Faculty Fellow at Tufts University.
Dr. Slater is recognized for her work on the sources, problems and potential solutions for free-roaming cats and dogs. Dr. Slater currently supervised the research team at the ASPCA as well as providing research and strategic support across the organization. She is on the International Advisory Council Science Advisory Board of the Alliance for Contraception in Cat and Dogs.
Dr. Slater has more than 130 peer-reviewed publications—many since joining the ASPCA--and 2 books. Her invited chapters on feral cats were published in Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine in 2001 and 2009, The Welfare of Cats in 2004 and The State of the Animals III, 2005. She is also the author of a book chapter on sterilization programs for dogs and cats in the textbook High-Quality, High-Volume Spay and Neuter and other Shelter Surgeries published in 2020. She has authored a chapter on the behavioral ecology of free-roaming cats for the text Animal Behavior for Shelter Medicine and Staff (2015) and has updated that chapter for the next edition wrapping up soon!
