CAPP
Anité Casas Figueroa
Education:
Sociocultural Anthropology, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, 2017
M.S. in Animals and Public Policy, Tufts University, 2018
What were you doing before entering the Masters in Animals and Public Policy program?
Before entering this program, I was finalizing my bachelor’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico and working with a professor in his ongoing research about Mayajigua, Cuba. I also worked as an independent dog walker and sitter in my hometown.
What aspects of MAPP led to your decision to join the program?
I joined this program because it offers me the opportunity to continue the research project I developed during my undergraduate degree with the mentorship of experts in the field of human-animal studies.
Interests in and experience with animals
Within the field of human-animal studies, the issue I’m most passionate about is public policy for the control of stray animals in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Puerto Rico has an overpopulation of stray dogs and cats, which is mostly attributed to abandonment. I have worked with several non-profit organizations in Puerto Rico to educate myself on the issue and of the best ways to control this population in a humane and innovative way.
MS in Animals and Public Policy Student Externship and Research Poster Presentations 2018
MS in Animals and Public Policy
The MS in Animals and Public Policy (MAPP) is an intensive, 12-to-16-month graduate degree program that focuses on human-animal relationships and their implications for policy and community action.
Center for Animals and Public Policy
The mission of the Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy (CAPP) is to conduct and encourage scholarly evaluation and understanding of the complex societal issues and public policy dimensions of the changing role and impact of animals in society. Work conducted by the Center is based on the tenets that animal well-being matters, that animal and human well-being are linked, and that both are enhanced through improved understanding of human-animal relationships.