New task force aims to strengthen animal welfare efforts in Northwestern district
The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office is leading an effort to strengthen and better coordinate the work of animal welfare professionals in Hampshire and Franklin counties by launching a task force to share information and provide training. First convened in the fall, the Animal Protection Task Force brings together local animal control officers, animal welfare agencies, representatives of private animal shelters and county sheriffs’ offices, police, mental health professionals and prosecutors to prevent animal abuse and create response protocols sensitive to the needs of animals.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Erin Aiello, who is heading up the initiative on behalf of the office, said a primary goal of the task force is to provide more support and free training to municipal animal control officers around the district. She notes that as a prosecutor specializing in animal welfare cases, she receives 5-10 calls weekly from animal control officers or local police seeking help with animal cruelty investigations.
“The dedicated animal welfare people are just not receiving the help and support and resources they need, and I don’t think the public knows this,” said Aiello, who has prosecuted animal cruelty matters since 2010. “Considering how much people love animals, there does not seem to be much light shown on the actual day-to-day role of animal protection in our communities.”
The Northwestern DA’s office covers 47 communities, many of which do not have fulltime animal control officers, which means animal welfare cases sometimes don’t receive the attention they need, said Aiello. There is only one dog shelter for the entire district and no cat shelters at all. Another problem the task force hopes to address is the issue of animal caregivers who find themselves unable to properly care for their pets for financial or other reasons.
“We as an animal welfare community need to educate the general public about the resources available to them so that they are not charged with neglect. There are organizations that can help and vouchers that can be offered in some cases,” said Aiello. “We want to find ways to help people who are having trouble properly caring for their animals – the last thing we want is to punish poverty.”
Aiello, who handles high risk domestic violence cases as a prosecutor in the domestic violence and sexual assault unit at the Northwestern DA’s office, is a trainer for the Law Enforcement Training Center of the Humane Society of the United States, which works with 10,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and animal control professionals throughout the U.S. annually.
Aiello and Sergeant William Loiselle, an animal cruelty investigator with the Law Enforcement Division of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, will provide a training on the basics of animal cruelty investigations and report writing at an Animal Cruelty Task Force meeting on Feb. 8 at the Sunderland Police Department, 105 River Road.
Loiselle has over three decades in law enforcement, at the Northampton Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. He continues to be a mentor in policing, particularly around providing guidance and support to law enforcement and animal control officers in animal cruelty investigations.