Scott Beckstead

Scott Beckstead works as chief equine programs director for The Wild Animal Sanctuary. 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. In his current role with The Animal Wild Sanctuary, he manages the operations of The Wild Horse Refuge, a 30,000-acre sanctuary for Colorado-born wild horses and advocates for wild equines at the state and federal level.

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.

He works in Colorado but maintains his home in Sutherlin, Oregon, along with his spouse and family, which includes an assortment of animals.