New law will combat animal cruelty
State Rep. Frank Farry’s legislation to protect humane society officers was signed into law last week by Gov. Tom Wolf
By Tom Waring
The Times
The new law will provide civil immunity from lawsuits arising from the lawful enforcement of the state’s animal cruelty laws.
“Prior to this law, humane society officers and their nonprofit employers were forced to waste their limited resources defending against frivolous lawsuits, sometimes for months at a time, until the lawsuits are thrown out,” Farry said. “This is a tremendous waste of resources that could otherwise go to supporting neglected and abused animals.”
Farry’s legislation provides civil immunity only when a humane society officer acts within his or her scope of authority under current law. It would not provide protection for acts outside this authority, nor to any act or omission constituting gross negligence, or intentional or reckless misconduct.
“Pennsylvania law affords civil immunity to high school sports coaches, county probation officers and emergency responders, just to name a few,” Farry said. “Humane society officers often put themselves in potentially dangerous situations to protect animals from horrendous conditions. They should be able to continue reasonable animal protection efforts without fear of being sued.”
Farry said the new law will also help alleviate some of the costly insurance premiums for the nonprofit organizations that employ humane society officers.
Farry’s legislation was included as part of Act 10 of 2017, known as Libre’s Law. ••
