The Summit series welcomes John Gray as a guest speaker

The 6th Annual Regional Summit series welcomes John Gray, of Animal Control for the City of Vancouver, for the Vancouver stop on the Summit Canadian tour in April 2012. 

John will be speaking during the Session III of the event and will speak to Regional Activities & Collaboration.

Background

John Gray
Assistant Manger Animal Control

Since 2008 John has over seen municipal enforcement of Animal Control Bylaws for the City of Vancouver, and manages 12 Animal Control officers and a total staff of nearly 40. John is known for his solution oriented style of management, and his ability to work collaboratively.

Prior to John’s arrival at Animal Control there was very little sharing between municipalities on like issues something John wanted to see changed. John developed and currently chairs the Lower Mainland Regional Animal Control Mangers Committee made up of 25 local municipalities which was formed in 2011 to establish a collaborative approach to solving regional problems in Companion Animal Management.

John began his career in the animal world as a zookeeper, and through his involvement with many exotic species survival plans, led him to an active involvement with the re introduction of Burrowing Owls to the Nicola and Okanagan valleys, with the establishment of the Burrowing owl Conservation Society of BC in the early nineties. Which now boast three captive breeding sites and has been responsible for more than 1000 Owls being released back into native habitat.

John has also been active in many urban wildlife management projects and was featured for his forward thinking approach on Canada Goose Management on David Suzuki’s “Nature of Things”.

John’s favourite accomplishment was developing and implementing the Vancouver Park Board’s Park Ranger program in 1998. A department he led for 10 years before moving to Animal Control.

John is also a founding member of the Stanley Park Ecology Society and his current passions have led him to the Emergency Management world. He  currently chairs the City’s ESS (Emergency Social Services) Pet Committee and is the Alternate ESS director for the City of Vancouver.

Regional Summit Synopsis

The Regional Summits gather industry leaders (unit and branch managers) from the four primary stakeholder groups of the pet industry: animal welfare, animal control & legislative enforcement, animal health & wellness and animal services. These one-day events deliver content from the previous National Alumni Summit, promote industry collaboration in each region, provide continuing education for industry management and expand the number of collaborators working toward common goals and urban animal strategies in the companion animal industry across Canada.