Diana Joy Waller and two other advocates began raising money for abused, neglected and stray animals in 2017 after receiving word about a little dog who had frozen to death in his crate.

Since then, more help has come through. The county has hired a humane officer, a role now filled by Officer Jessica Farren, and she has since investigated more than 100 abuse and neglect cases across the county.

Between 2002 and 2017, Butler County had no humane officer at all.

Farren’s role is an entirely volunteer one. She also works a full-time job at a veterinary hospital and raises a family in addition to her animal rescue work. With her specialized training, training most police don’t possess, she serves the whole county in a way no one else can.

Waller and other leaders from the nonprofit One Voice For the Abused Domestic Animals (OVADA), describe Farren’s work as an impossible task. Farren often has to prioritize cases, meaning many of the county’s animals must wait to receive help.

OVADA is asking for more Butler County residents to help with its efforts, particularly by volunteering their time.

“People get upset because (Farren) prioritizes her cases, and if there’s an animal in dire need, she will tell them to call the local police or the state police,” Waller said. “She might be at work, and she can’t just walk out of work, because she has responsibilities ... And it’s a tough position. You have to be able to see things that you can never unsee.”

“I couldn’t do it,” Waller added. “There’s no way I could do that. Because I would never sleep.”

For humane officers, Humane Society training requires about 40 hours of specialized instruction, according to Farren.

Farren receives some compensation from OVADA for the distances she drives while volunteering and for the training she has received, but the assistance ends there.

OVADA could benefit from civilians willing to volunteer their time, too, Waller said. The toughest part of her team’s work is getting the word out so more people will step up.

“If you’re an animal lover, try to do what you can,” she said. “It doesn’t always take money. You don’t have to have a lot of money to help us. If you could foster, if you could maybe run an animal to the vet ... Anything they can do. We would love to have people come and help us plan events. We do OK with donations. When we need it, people do step up.”

Waller said police departments can at times provide a major help.

If police officers are forced to chose between an animal cruelty call and a human crime, though, it’s likely the animals will have to wait, according to Anita Stevens, OVADA vice president .

Help on the frontline

“A lot of people assume that the people who are abusing and neglecting their animals are doing so willfully,” Farren said. “A lot of these people just don’t know how to take care of their animals.”

Part of her job is helping people understand how to take care of their pets so the animals can stay in their homes. That, she said, makes her work especially rewarding.

Farren, who has served as a certified veterinary technician for the last 12 years, started her work with animals in private practice before moving into nonprofit animal shelters. This eventually led to law enforcement service with Beaver County Humane Society, which meant participation in pet investigations and seizures.

Farren often has to set aside calls in which the source can’t provide enough details to explain a situation. For example, a barking dog’s owner may have kept it outside for 24 hours, but if the source can’t verify whether the animal has access to food or water, that call might have to wait.

Farren has to determine “what needs my attention immediately, and what can wait a couple of days or a couple of weeks,” she explained.

Since early 2022, OVADA has been working to hire someone to help manage Farren’s calls, many of which prove to be urgent. Others are false alarms that eat up time.

Of course, a qualified candidate who completes humane training could provide immense help as well. The candidate would undergo a vetting process, which includes a resume and calls to professional references, to determine whether they’re the right fit for the job.

“If there was somebody interested, and happy to take on that role around here, they will have to understand that it’s completely unpaid,” Farren said. “We would definitely be interested in talking with them and seeing about getting them trained. I would take them with me for a ride-along to see what they actually think about the job itself.”

Expanding responsibilities

OVADA recently began extending services to stray animals.

This summer, a county resident had alerted Waller to a cat she found in her yard. The cat had a gash in his face.

Waller called Stevens to explain the situation and draw on the organization’s funds for veterinary care.

“Cats are domestic animals,” Waller said. “Dogs are domestic animals. I don’t see why we can’t go that step further and help any domestic animal that really needs it. We don’t want to see any animal in pain.”

Veterinarians succeeded in cleaning up the cat’s wound, and the woman who had found the cat agreed to foster it. If everything goes smoothly, the cat eventually will have a permanent home with her finder.

OVADA holds a couple of fundraisers a year, the latest being its Oct. 8 Spook-a-paw-looza event. Waller hopes to plan the next fundraising event early next year.

The funds earned from these events and other donations cover veterinary bills and help cover costs for owners who wish to keep their pets but are struggling financially.

“People will reach out sometimes and ask, ‘Can somebody help me with food?’ or something like that. Or ‘I’m having a hard, hard time right now,’” said Waller.

Generally, Waller monitors stray animal alerts through the Facebook page “Butler PA Lost and Found Animals.” She also invites sources to visit the Department of Agriculture website at www.pda.state.pa.us — which contains her name, phone number and address — for concerns about animal abuse and neglect.

Left hanging

Many of the animals who appear to be strays often had owners not long ago, Stevens said.

“I’ve heard of a few cases of people just abandoning their animals, and it’s sad,” she said. “I’ve seen ... a dog sitting alongside the road because that’s where the owner dropped them off.”

“And so the dog will sit there and wait,” she said. “There are people out there who should never have animals to begin with.”

A similar situation often goes for cats, who will continue to roam near their past owner’s home even after the owner has moved out and left the animal behind, Stevens said.

Waller and other OVADA members occasionally cover expenses out of their own pockets — such as folding chairs and folding tables for events.

“Unfortunately, for some reason, the state does not see it as something viable that they need to pay for,” said Stevens.

Passion and self-sacrifice appear to form the backbone of basic animal advocacy efforts in Butler County. Residents have played a major role in helping to improve the situation, but a persistent need still remains.