Dr. Joshua Fisher, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is dedicated to delivering high-quality education and training opportunities to students in the online Veterinary Forensic Sciences graduate program. With over two decades of experience in veterinary medicine and animal welfare, his professional focus includes keeping pets and people together, public health and safety, advanced marketing and placement strategies, intake reduction tactics, strategic planning, and industry career development.
Fisher lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his three dogs – a Great Dane named Zane, German Shepherd named Rogue, and Belgian Malinois named Cerberus – and serves as the Animal Services Director for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Among his many titles, Fisher is also the President of the National Animal Care & Control Association. In addition to serving animals, Dr. Fisher enjoys playing tennis, CrossFit, and spending time outside.
When did you first discover your interest in veterinary forensics? How did you develop your skills in this area?
Joshua Fisher: I first discovered my interest in veterinary forensics when I was working at a private veterinary practice in high school. The veterinarian I was working for was intimately involved in the work done by our local sheriff’s department and animal control agency and was the subject matter expert who performed forensic examinations and necropsies for their casework. As I moved through my formal education and then career, I remained interested in forensics and sought out opportunities to learn and develop these skills as well as increase my exposure to all aspects of the criminal investigative process. I was very fortunate that as an undergraduate poultry science major, I had the opportunity to participate in several research studies that further developed my necropsy and diagnostic skills.
What led you to teaching in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Forensics program? How long have you been developing and teaching online courses?
I was absolutely honored when Dr. Jason Byrd reached out to see if I would be interested in joining the faculty with the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Forensic program. Having spent many years in the animal control/animal welfare space including as part of a law enforcement agency, I have had a great deal of exposure to animal crime cases, which I was excited to leverage and share through teaching. I have been developing and teaching online courses since 2018 for a variety of institutions, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government.
Can you tell us more about your role as the Animal Services Director for the City of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, North Carolina?
As the Animal Services Director for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, I oversee a department of 95-plus full-time employees divided into six different units: Field Operations, Sheltering, Clinic Services, Customer Service, Communications and Outreach, and Business Services. Our organization takes in over 10,000 animals per year, providing services to eight different municipalities. We pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge of animal welfare best practices and taking a community-centric approach to all aspects of the work we do.
What was your path to becoming President of the National Animal Care & Control Association and what does the role involve?
I spent some time as a board member and board President for my state association and got more involved in helping to drive change within our industry at that level, which led me to develop relationships with other state association leaders across the country. Through these relationships, I was encouraged to join the NACA board and submitted my application to run in the summer of 2019. I was elected to the board in October of 2019. In 2020, many things in the world and in our industry changed. I became very involved in helping to provide guidance for the field of animal control and animal welfare on how best to handle the variety of challenges we were facing in our roles as first responders during a global pandemic. I was nominated and elected as board President in October of 2020, shortly after which our organization’s Executive Director retired.
During my first few years as President of NACA, I was very involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization as we did not have any paid staff. We took this opportunity as an organization to take a step back and really assess our core values and what our membership needed us to be as their national organization. NACA reframed our approach to agency and industry support and enhanced our training offerings. We onboarded the Director of Partnerships and Programs who helped to take the organization to the next level and eventually was promoted to the role of Executive Director. Now as the board President, I am involved in driving the strategic direction of the organization, helping to guide policies and position statements that best support our members and the field of Animal Care & Control as a whole, and leading the other members of the board of directors to ensure that as a working board, we are providing the NACA staff with the SME support they need.
From your perspective, who can benefit from training in veterinary forensics, and what makes this area of study important to professionals working with animals?
Honestly, anyone who is part of the criminal process or is interested in becoming part of the process can benefit from training in veterinary forensics. This ranges from law enforcement officers and prosecutors to veterinarians and animal care staff. It is important for anyone who is going to touch an animal crimes/veterinary forensics case to have an understanding of the process in totality because these cases are so complex with a variety of moving pieces, and the unique factor of evidence that is often living and breathing. It is imperative that everyone understands the unique challenges this presents and how the handling and care for the animals involved can impact the case at any point from start to finish!
What are the benefits of online learning opportunities in veterinary forensics for professionals in this field?
The reality of animal welfare as a profession is that there is not a great deal of time during a given day for continued education, training, etc. due to the high volume and ever-changing nature of the work. For this reason, online learning opportunities are key in order to ensure access to the modern professional to the latest trends and best practices within the field.
Industry research is a passion of yours, what areas do you focus on and what projects are you working on?
I have a variety of interests within our industry, but some of the current projects I am working on involve the application of AI in our work and how it can help to enhance operations and increase staff bandwidth as well as how to maximize community impact on sheltering capacity through foster programs and return to home programming. I am also involved in a project looking at the standardization of bite assessments for casework and shelter application but that is a much larger project with a variety of different entities involved.
What do you love most about teaching in the Veterinary Forensic Sciences graduate Program?
The thing I love most about teaching in UF’s online Veterinary Forensic Sciences graduate program is the interaction with the students. I like to think of myself as a life-long learner, and every interaction is an opportunity to learn something new. This program brings so many different people together with a variety of backgrounds and a vast knowledge base, it is an opportunity unlike any other to look at and think about things from a variety of different perspectives.
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The UF College of Veterinary Medicine offers a Master of Science in Veterinary Forensic Sciences, a Graduate Certificate in Veterinary Forensic Medicine, and online continuing education courses. This fully online program is designed to foster the application of forensic sciences to veterinary medicine through workshops, short courses, graduate research, case analysis, and distance education. Students and working professionals in the forensic science and veterinary medicine field will benefit the most from this program, along with master’s-level students in the biology, zoology, wildlife, and natural resource conservation fields. Explore programs and apply online today.