PFB Animal Care Coordinator Program

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau created the Animal Care Coordinator Program to address several problems often faced in today’s society.  The program provides knowledge and understanding of animal agriculture in order to minimize inaccurate assessment of animal cruelty complaints on farms, avoid needless conflicts between farmers and animal humane officers, and avoid unwarranted animal cruelty prosecution.

Many counties in the state have a Pennsylvania Farm Bureau member designated as an Animal Care Coordinator (ACC).  As such, they:

How the program works:

• Humane officers who receive a complaint of animal cruelty against a farmer call the ACC.
• The ACC visits the farm in question.
• The ACC can advise the farmer of actions needed to correct the situation.
• The farmer reports the outcome of the visit to the humane officer.

Essentially, ACCs can help resolve animal cruelty complaints by identifying normal farming practices – they do not determine whether practices violate state cruelty laws.  In addition, farmers when dealing with a problem can also contact the ACC for advice.

Who are the ACCs?

• Volunteers selected by their county Farm Bureau
• Volunteers are trained by the PFB in producers, safety and legal liability.
• The ACCs are also encouraged to make contacts with humane officers.