CENTRE COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — Citing an increase in animal abuse cases, Centre County is adding an animal control officer to its sheriff's department to handle investigations.

A project that has been a long time in the making, that’s how Centre County administrators term the creation of a Centre County based humane, or animal control, officer position for animal abuse investigations.

“In Centre County, we do not have any humane society police officers. We have a decent relationship with the humane society in Blair County, the Central PA Humane Society, but we need our own.”

On Thursday, the county commissioners approved designating a current deputy sheriff as the new humane officer. He'll be able to conduct investigations currently handled by local law enforcement.

“Police departments want to get back on the road. We’ll take the time they spend on animal investigations. They’ll call us and 911 will probably dispatch us. It’s going to get officers back on the street, and we’re going to streamline by having our deputies do it.”

County officials say there's still a lot of work to do, including the specialized training the new officer will need to complete. Another issue is having local animal shelters on board, in case they’re needed.

“If you have a situation like you had in Bedford recently where they gathered 99 dogs, you need a network to make this work.”

It’s expected that Centre County's new humane officer will begin working sometime this spring.

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