Nationwide HLE programs / the relative role of enforcement vs. prevention

[JenniferO]

Hi Dr. Lockwood,
I have 2 questions:
1. Are the various HLE programs around the country coordinated in any way or do they each operate independently? How do these individual programs get funded?
2. What do you think is most effective in tackling animal cruelty: enforcement or education/awareness/prevention? It seems that enforcement is enormously important to make people aware of the consequences of their actions, i.e., that it is a crime to hurt an animal, just as it would be (though differently prosecuted) when one hurts another human being. But I don't know what the A's POV is on this.
Thank you,
Jennifer

[Dr. Randall Lockwood]

There is no formal coordination of the various HLE programs around the country, but we often share in training and resources. For example, I have done training for the Houston SPCA (the "Animal Cops Houston" group) on hoarding and veterinary forensics. We have also done training at national conferences attended by agents from the various groups, including meetings of the National Animal Control Association, the Animal Care Expo, the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators and many others.

The A's approach to tackling cruelty is really very comprehensive. Obviously prevention through humane education is an important component. Next we see the need for community education about theneed to report animal cruelty. We feel "Animal Precinct" and its counterparts have done a great job of raising public awareness about animal cruelty. The next step is to get regular police to respond to the reports of cruelty. We do training for many police academies within NY and around the country. We also have on-line and CD-ROM based training for police in about 40 states. The next step is to train prosecutors to take on these cases and prosecute them effectively. We have worked with the National Association of District Attorneys to develop a manual for prosecuting animal cruelty cases. Next we have to train veterinarians to effectively document cruelty so these cases can be won, and we do such training at every major vet conference. Finally, we have to get judges to apply appropriate sanctions in the cases that are brought before them. We have done many trainings for various judicial groups. All in all - we see the need to address the issue of cruelty from as many angles as possible.

[dalovestr]

It's great to hear you are attacking these issues from so many angles. On the same note, though, how can we change laws to make harsher penalties to those that actually DO get "convicted" of cruelty??
Where do we start?

[Dr. Randall Lockwood]

Penalties have increased dramatically in the last few years - we now have felony animal cruelty penalties in 44 states - when I started in the field in 1984 there were 4 states. Still - some of these only apply on the second or third offense in some states, some do not apply to all animals, and some have unnecessary exemptions. To see what changes are most needed in your state - check the "Ask a lobbyist" section of aspca.org to find out what our legislative specialists think is most needed - or what actions are already underway.