Alan M Beck

Alan Beck, a leading authority on the relationships between pets and their owners. Beck is the director of the Center for Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Dr. Alan Beck was formerly the director of the Bureau of Animal Affairs in New York, where he helped draft that city's "pooper scooper" law. A similar was recently passed in Philadelphia. Beck currently works at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary School where he heads the Center for Interaction of Animals and Society. He has researched pet/owner relationships and stray dogs and their effect on people, including the homeless. He joins the show to discuss the new law and human-animal relationships.