Join us at the Humane Society of Chittenden County for this essential ACO & Humane Investigations Training, where you'll learn how to:

Turn Vermont animal laws into real-world action
Document cases effectively and collaborate with law enforcement
Navigate animal welfare enforcement at the state level
Apply lessons from complex cruelty and hoarding cases
Safely and effectively recover dogs and cats in the field
Use practical animal handling tools and techniques

Featuring Guest Speakers:

Lisa Milot, VT Director of Animal Welfare

Lisa Milot is the Director of Animal Welfare for the State of Vermont. Previously, she was the Annie & Zack Stanton Distinguished Professor of Canine Welfare Law at the University of Georgia, the Director of the UGA Law Practicum in Animal Welfare Skills (in which she and her students worked to improve animal welfare around the State of Georgia), and Founder and Executive Director of Athenspets (a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping the most vulnerable animals in the Athens (GA) area and the people who love them). Lisa received grant funding to produce the Beyond Sheltering video series, available at https://www.youtube.com/@UGALawPAWS/videos, bringing together animal welfare experts from a variety of specialties to provide practical explanations of programs and laws to prevent and effectively prosecute animal cruelty.

JoAnn Nichols, Animal Control Officer

JoAnn is currently the founder and owner of HEART Wildlife Removal. She has been working in animal welfare since 1980, with the Humane Society from 2007. With decades of experience working in the animal cruelty field as a Certified Humane Investigator and trained Animal Control Officer, she has handled hundreds of animal welfare cases in the field, working with law enforcement officers and provided expert witness testimony in court. HEART Wildlife Removal, JoAnn’s business, provides humane wildlife services in Chittenden County and Animal Control Services to South Burlington, Essex and Winooski with help from 5 employees who currently are employed at HEART Wildlife Removal. In her (limited) spare time, JoAnn is also a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, specializing in reptiles as well as non-rabies vector small mammals.

Joanne Bourbeau, Humane World for Animals

Joanne Bourbeau, Northeastern Regional Director, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Joanne started with the HSUS in 1995. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from the University of New Hampshire, and a certificate in non-profit business management from Johns Hopkins University. She is a graduate of the National Cruelty Investigations School offered by the University of Missouri’s Law Enforcement Training Institute School of Law, and chairs the board of the statewide Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team. Joanne regularly counsels local & state law enforcement agencies, municipal officials and shelter personnel on the investigation of animal cruelty cases here in Vermont.

Trevor Whipple, Law Enforcement Consultant

Trevor Whipple, Chief of Police (Ret.), Law Enforcement Consultant, VT League of Cities and Towns. Trevor worked for 38 years as a sworn law enforcement officer, 36 in Vermont. He served as the chief of police in the Vermont cities of Barre and South Burlington before his retirement. During his career Trevor obtained a bachelor’s degree from Johnson State College and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Vermont. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Trevor has served as an instructor at the Vermont Police Academy since 1984, a member of the VT Criminal Justice Council and is also a member of the adjunct faculty at the Community College of Vermont. He currently serves as the law enforcement consultant for the VT League of Cities and Towns. He has been teaching various courses on animal welfare investigations for the past 15 years.

Sally Adams, VT State Attorney

Sally J. Adams is the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney at the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office in Burlington, Vermont. She has been a prosecutor since April 2017 and handles all animal cruelty related cases submitted for prosecution in Chittenden County. Sally has served on the State of Vermont’s Animal Cruelty Investigations Advisory Board since 2018 and has been Vice Chair of the board since 2019. She has testified numerous times at the Vermont State house on animal cruelty legislation and the need for reforms to Vermont laws regarding animal welfare. In addition to her legal work, Sally is a long-time volunteer at the Humane Society of Chittenden County and former board member serving from 2018 to 2024 including serving as Chair of the Board of Directors from 2022-2024.

Emily Lewis, CDBC

Emily has 24 years of professional experience as a dog trainer, shelter behavior consultant and vet tech. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the IAABC and operates Vermont Dog Behavior, LLC. She specializes in a wide variety of behavior issues, including human directed aggression. Due to the nature of the cases that she sees, Emily is often faced with families who have experienced trauma due to their dog's behavior. She loves working with these clients to repair and improve their relationship with their dog, with an emphasis on meeting the needs at both ends of the leash. Emily has been involved in animal welfare for the last 12 years assisting a variety of shelters and rescue organizations with their behavior programs. She strives to help shelter dogs have the best quality of life possible, to provide shelter staff with the training they need to keep themselves and the animals in their care safe, and to support the community with dog training and behavior resources. When she's not working, Emily loves spending time in nature with her wife and three rescue dogs. She is an avid reader, self-described comic book nerd, and enjoys collecting tattoos from some of Vermont's talented artists.

Sue Wear, Pet Recovery Specialist

This training is open to all members of the animal welfare community. Space is limited - please reserve your spot in advance.

HSCC's ACO & Humane Investigations Training

A Humane Education Event at HSCC