Increase in abandoned pets, animal cruelty cases prompts Centre County to hire humane officer

Centre Co., PA (WJAC) — Animal cruelty cases continue to increase and one problem in many areas is the "lack of personnel" to enforce the state's cruelty laws.

Recent news out of Centre County that a humane officer is being added there is quickly drawing a favorable response.

Humane officers investigate cases of animal neglect or cruelty.

Last week, the Centre County Sheriff's Office announced that one of their staffers will be a county-based humane officer.

“We’re very excited to have a Centre County based humane officer. That is the first time we will have a paid position like that in Centre County. There is still a lot of unknowns to figure out, because when animals are removed from areas they need somewhere to go, so we want people to think about rescue organizations and how much more support we'll need to take care of those animals.”

Lisa Bahr heads Centre County PAWS: a nonprofit animal shelter.

This past weekend, they held their first PAWS Fest fundraiser, and it drew a crowd.

“As we are one of the largest cat and dog non-profit shelters in the area, events like this bring in really needed donations and support from our community.”

PAWS Fest is coming at a time when the organization's animal rescue and shelter services are in high demand.

“We are seeing a huge influx of stray and abandoned animals in our community that we’ve never seen before.”

The new humane officer in Centre County is expected to be on board by next year.

“We’ve been without a humane officer for a long time, we’ve had a great relationship with the humane society from Blair County, but this has put us where we need to be.”

The Pennsylvania SPCA reports that they investigate thousands of animal cruelty cases every year.

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