Presenter:    Phil Arkow, National Link Coalition

A virtual workshop – Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 12 pm – 1:30 pm

(1.5 CEs for social workers with application to NASW- PA)

Registration open January 8 – February 26, 2024:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4fCDZH64TT-qxyzDC9HVIg#/registration

Why This Workshop?

An increasing number of states are requiring child and adult protective services caseworkers, social workers, counselors, and veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse, and humane and animal control officers to report suspected abuse of children and older adults. Sadly, Pennsylvania lags far behind the national movement that recognizes that animal cruelty and other forms of family violence are Linked, and that by preventing one can prevent the others. This workshop is important because it will introduce you to compelling evidence Linking animal cruelty and neglect to domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse, and elder abuse. We’re going to introduce you to the concept, explain what you need to know about it, and show you how it’s being addressed elsewhere and what YOU can do about it.

Animal abuse frequently is an indicator and predictor of interpersonal, family, and community violence, particularly in domestic violence and child maltreatment scenarios. Significant numbers of women report that threats to their companion and farm animals prevent them from leaving abusive relationships. Children who perpetrate or witness animal cruelty are at risk of being victims themselves and/or future perpetrators of violence, with lifelong adverse emotional consequences. Cross-training and cross-reporting among human services and animal protection agencies are necessary to create more effective species-spanning community collaboratives that prevent and prosecute these interlocking forms of family violence.

The Crisis Center North and the Keystone Link Coalition  will host this virtual workshop to explore “the dark side” of the human-animal bond and its implications for human and humane services, family welfare agencies, prosecutors, law enforcement, and human and veterinary medicine. It will describe new strategies, public policy, research, and programs to prevent family violence and to respond to its human and animal victims. Our goal is to encourage policy and program opportunities and action to establish and enhance cross-training and cross-reporting processes at the local level.

Our speaker will be internationally acclaimed lecturer, author and educator Phil Arkow. A native of Philadelphia, Arkow is President& Secretary of the National LINK Coalition – the National Resource Center on The LINK between Animal Abuse and Human Violence – and edits the monthly LINK-Letter, with over 5,300 subscribers. He teaches at the University of Florida and Harcum College. He has presented over 400 times in 17 countries, 38 states and 9 Canadian provinces, and has authored over 100 key reference works on human-animal interactions and violence prevention. He co-founded the National Link Coalition, the National Animal Control Association, and the Colorado and New Jersey humane federations. He has served with the American Veterinary Medical Association, the ASPCA, American Humane, the Delta Society, the Animals & Society Institute, the National Sheriffs Association’s National Coalition on Violence Against Animals, the National District Attorneys Association, the Academy on Violence & Abuse, and the American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from New Jersey Child Assault Prevention.

Topics to be addressed include: animal hoarding, animal sexual abuse, animal fighting, applicable statutes and statistics, case studies, and animal abuse’s specific links with child maltreatment, domestic violence, elder abuse, and community violence. Recommendations for professionals and advocates and an extensive list of resources will be presented.

For more information contact:
Vicki Deisner, Keystone Link Coalition, vicki.deisner@gmail.com, 614-493-8383