SCott Beckstead

Scott Beckstead is one of the nation's leading voices on equine welfare and protection. Formerly Legislative Counsel at Best Friends Animal Society and Director of Campaigns for Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action, Beckstead helms EquineIQ to work with corporations, animal welfare groups and across barriers to develop solutions for the humane management of America's equine population. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Utah State University and his JD from the University of Utah, Beckstead worked as an attorney in private practice for 17 years on the central Oregon coast before going to work full-time in the animal protection sector. During his time on the coast he also served as the mayor of Waldport, Oregon from 2002 to 2007.

He became known for his special expertise in the field of animal law, and has taught that subject at the University of Oregon and Willamette University law schools. In 2000, he co-authored Animal Law, the first casebook on the subject, and continues to teach animal law, wildlife law and policy, Endangered Species Act, and cannabis law and policy as an adjunct professor of law at Willamette University. From 2008 to 2020, Beckstead served in a multitude of roles for the Humane Society of the United States, including Oregon state director, equine protection specialist, and Rural Outreach director; he also helped lead a successful ballot measure campaign in 2016 to ban the trade in endangered wildlife in Oregon.

Because of his close familiarity with horses, livestock, and farm animals, Beckstead provides training to law enforcement agencies on how to handle and work with those animals, and how to investigate equine and livestock cruelty and neglect.