New York State Humane Association Workshops
NYSHA conducts the following workshops during the year:
- Cruelty Investigation Workshop
- This workshop is intended for police, humane law enforcment, and
animal control officers; however, anyone with an interest in the topic
is welcome to attend, space permitting. This is a one-day workshop (9
AM to 3:00 PM) held in various locations around the state and includes
the following presentations:
- The relationship between animal abuse and human violence
- Article 26, the NYS anti-cruelty laws, what they mean and how best to enforce them.
- The role of the veterinarian in an animal cruelty case. How best the veterinarian should be used to present evidence.
- How
to effectively assist the district attorney's office to make a good
case; effective ways to prepare a search warrent, collect evidence, and
complete an Information, so the case is winable.
- Cruelty Investigation Workshop with a Large Animal Focus -
The first day of this two-day workshop includes all the elements of the
one-day workshop noted. The second day normally is a half day spent at
area farms where a large animal veterinarian instructs attendess on
good animal husbandry, so they will recognize its absence when
investigating a farm animal cruelty case. The vet points out specific
areas that attendess should observe for signs of abuse or neglect. For
example, if they find overgrown hooves on horses, that is a sign to
call a veterinarian to the scene.
- Workshop for Veterinarians
- This workshop focuses on the role of a veterinarian in a cruelty
case. If called by police to the scene of an animal cruelty case, the
veterinarian needs to know how to give testimony, needs to properly
complete examination forms, needs to put convey that certain signs of
neglect all combine to form a large picture of neglect. It cannot be
stressed enough that a veterinarian's testimony is critical to the
successful prosecution of an animal cruelty case. This course shows
those dedicated veterinarians how to be most effective.
- Public Workshops - NYSHA holds public workshops which include the presentation on the connection between animal abuse and human violence and a presentation on how the public should report animal cruelty. These are usually held in the evening.