Kelley Bollen currently heads the behavior program for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. During the three years she has been with the MSPCA, Kelley has implemented many programs including temperament evaluations of shelter dogs, behavioral and environmental enrichment for all the guests of the shelter, clicker training programs to decrease stress and increase adoptability for both dogs and cats, and educational programs for staff, volunteers, local animal control officers, and the general public on animal behavior related issues. Additionally, Kelley handles a behavior help line and conducts private behavior consultations for both adopters and the general public.

Kelley started her animal career working as a veterinary technician. She later managed a boarding kennel and dog obedience school where she was also an apprentice trainer. After several years in the dog field her lifelong desire to work with wild animals drove her to pursue an education in the study of wildlife and environmental science.

Kelley earned her undergraduate degree in wildlife biology and worked in the zoo field for 7 years before returning to college to earn a Masters degree in animal behavior. The last five years of her zoo career, Kelley worked mainly with primates as the lead keeper of the zoos 9 species of our endangered relatives. She also served as the enrichment coordinator for the zoo, working with other keepers to find ways to enrich the lives of all the animals held in the zoo. Kelley has worked with elephants, lions, leopards, sloths, fox, otter, rhinoceros, giraffes and wolves, in addition to her favorites - the primates. Kelley's focus during her zoo career was to improve the lives of the captive animals by providing mental and physical stimulation through daily enrichment and operant training sessions.

Kelley's Master's research involved a study of abnormal behavior in captive primates. She found that captivity often leads to aberrant behaviors such as stereotypies and self-injury and that these abnormalities are more common in the apes. In the course of conducting this research Kelley became interested in the abnormal behaviors exhibited by other species, both wild and domestic, and eventually changed her focus to studying and working with companion animals. Kelley feels she has come full circle and she brings the experience and knowledge she gained working with wild species to her work with companion animals.

Website: www.mspca.org