Dr. Maya Gupta earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia and her B.A. from Columbia University. Her primary area of expertise is animal cruelty, including its connections to other forms of violence. In her 20+ years in the nonprofit animal welfare sector, she has worked extensively on the development of programs that assist human and animal victims of domestic violence in reaching safety together, and secondarily on approaches to assessment and intervention with individuals who have harmed animals. More broadly, her interests extend to the application of social science and human service approaches to promoting animal welfare and improving human-animal relationships.

She is currently Vice President of Research for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, overseeing the development and dissemination of cutting-edge applied research on animal cruelty, sheltering, and access to veterinary care. She also co-leads the ASPCA’s Veterinary Training Initiative and C.A.R.E.S. cruelty training project, and guides the development of other strategic projects across the organization. She previously served as Executive Director of Georgia-based Ahimsa House (a statewide animal safehouse program for victims of domestic violence) and subsequently as Executive Director of the Animals & Society Institute.

Dr. Gupta is a guest lecturer and clinical supervisor for both the Veterinary Social Work and Veterinary Human Support Certificate Programs at the University of Tennessee, and a courtesy research assistant professor at Florida International University. She also previously taught in the University of Florida’s Veterinary Forensic Sciences Program and the Anthrozoology Master’s Program at Canisius College. She is a founding and ongoing steering committee member of both the National Link Coalition and the Section on Human-Animal Interaction in the American Psychological Association. She also serves in advisory roles with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Center for the Study of NIBRS Animal Cruelty Data, Pets for Vets, Humane Alliance of Rescue Trainers, Ahimsa House, Open Door Veterinary Collective, and the Banfield Foundation’s Safer Together Initiative for people and pets in domestic violence. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and as co-chair of the Cobb County Domestic Violence Task Force. She has been a recipient of the Unity Award from the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the Angel Award from the ASPCA, and the Family Violence Task Force Member of the Year Award from the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. She lives north of Atlanta, GA.