Nick Walton, senior manager of national shelter support

Nick Walton is the senior manager of national shelter support for Best Friends Animal Society, providing leadership and training for strategic shelter partners across the country. Through Best Friends’ municipal and shelter support program, Nick conducts professional shelter operations and field assessments, and leads progressive, humane trainings for animal control agencies and officers.  
Prior to joining Best Friends and serving as the behavior and training coordinator for the Best Friends Lifesaving Center in Atlanta, Nick was an animal control officer and cruelty investigator for Fulton County Animal Services through LifeLine Animal Project. Through this work, he served as Fulton County’s primary field training officer, providing professional training and development to new officers and cultivating a community-oriented approach to animal services in order to help Atlanta become a no-kill city.  
 
Nick’s many years of experience as a dog trainer and behavior specialist combined with his commitment to keeping pets safe at home through proactive neighborhood engagement have resulted in a deep expertise in and love for community-based lifesaving. Once known around town as “the Dog Food Man,” he has a reputation for building trust and key relationships with lasting positive effects for both pets and people.  
 
Nick was born and raised in Georgia and still resides there with his family, including three dogs—Effie, Dan and Nugget—and a once feral barn cat named Mary who now considers herself a bit of a housecat. When not out setting the lifesaving tone for fellow officers, Nick can be found roaming his 27-acre farm in Griffin, watching the joy that his own pets bring to his family every day.