Friends of Federated,
I am pleased to announce the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has officially agreed to temporarily suspend the continuing education requirement for Humane Society Police Officers. Please see the letter from the Department below.
COVID-19 Mitigation Efforts: HSPO Continuing Education Program Training Suspension
Our lobbying team has been hard at work during this pandemic for our members, providing information and advocating on your behalf. When the Governor announced the closure of businesses across the state, he was not clear if shelters and humane societies were included in this directive, the team immediately was in contact with the administration to ensure that our organizations were considered essential life-sustaining businesses. They will continue to work with the administration on the possibility of deferring the expiration of Humane Society Police Officer continuing education requirements for at least 6-months from when the emergency declaration has ended. If you are a member and are aware of other policy matters that have arisen during this pandemic that we are not working on please let us know.
Remember, general assistance, unmet needs, and resource requests should be directed to county emergency management agencies while copying PASART Executive Director Sarah Speed at sarah@paanimalresponse.org or 717-651-2736 to ensure coordination and tracking of the larger statewide effort for resources and requests.
Best,
Amy Kaunas
Board President
Federated Humane Societies of Pennsylvania
