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MAKING THE CONNECTION with
April 26th 2002 Sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States This First Strike Workshop was a HUGE success! Sixty eight participants, including Animal Control Officers, Police Officers, Humane Investigators, Humane Society personnel, Therapists, Women Resource workers, Veterinarians, and many more attended this day long forum. Continuing Education credits were available for Veterinarians, ACO's, and Humane Investigators. This forum opened the communication between multiple agencies for the continuing dialogue of this important issue of animal abuse/human cruelty. VA PAWS is committed to continuing the process of building a coalition of agencies to further combat violence. Look for another ( more specific ) First Strike Workshop with in a year. Tragically, violence has become an increasing part of our communities. It comes in many forms: child abuse and neglect, spouse /partner abuse, abuse of the elderly or mentally disabled, violence against property, including vandalism and racial or religious hate crimes. Sometimes less recognized, animal cruelty is one form of violence that is also present in every community. It is often an indicator or symptom of other forms of violent behavior. Half of the women seeking protection from domestic violence have had a pet threatened or killed as one part of their abuse. Pets are frequently the target of cruelty in homes with physical or sexual abuse of children. Many of the most infamous violent criminals of recent years had an early and often unrecognized history of extreme cruelty to animals. How we treat animals has long been recognized as a mirror of how we treat others or ourselves. In the words of Albert Schweitzer, "Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives." There is a widespread and growing attempt nationwide to recognize and deal with the perpetrators of violence against humans. At the same time there is a growing effort to prevent abuse and neglect of animals. Join us for this unique and important seminar to explore the phenomenon of the tangled web of abuse and to build bridges between those who work to protect animals and people. Tentative Workshop Agenda 8:00 Registration 8:45 Opening Remarks 9:00 The Roots of Cruelty and the Psychology of Abuse - Ginger Prevas 10:00 Break 10:15 The Roots of Cruelty and the Psychology of Abuse - Ginger Prevas 12:00 Lunch 1:00 Cruelty - What Does It Look Like - Sharon Adams 1:45 Safe Pet Housing- Marie Suthers-McCabe 2:30 Break 3:00 Working Together to Stop the Violence A Panel Discussion -Interdisciplinary Communication -Public Awareness -Training -Legislation 4:30 Conclusions and Questions- Ginger Prevas TENTATIVE WORKSHOP SPEAKERS Ginger Prevas, MSW, LGSW First Strike Campaign Manager, The Humane Society of the United States Marie Suthers-McCabe, DVM C.E.N.T.A.U.R. Director Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Ellen Brown Director, Total Action Against Poverty (TAAP) Sharon Adams Director, Virginia Beach SPCA Lila Borge Wills Vice President Virginia Partnership for Animal Welfare and Support Teresa Dockery Legislative Liaison Virginia Federation of Humane Societies Dr. Tod Burke Associate Professor Dept of Criminal Justice, Radford University Judy Casteele Associate Director for Community Development Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley WORKSHOP LOCATION The conference will be held at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. For further information, contact Lila Borge Wills Preferably by email at vapaws@onemain.com or (540) 651-4530 evenings
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES Virginia M. Prevas First Strike Campaign Manager The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The First Strike™ Campaign is a national campaign that was launched in 1997 to raise awareness about the connection between animal cruelty and human violence in our society. In this position, Ms. Prevas oversees and coordinates all activities of the campaign including professional outreach, community coalition development, and grant writing. She also works closely with local advocates to respond to high profile cruelty cases, strengthen state anti-cruelty legislation, develop educational materials on the connection, and promote the development of local antiviolence programs. Ms. Prevas also has previous experience working in the areas of animal welfare, human services, and criminal justice. In 1998 and 1999, she served as Coordinator and Law Clerk for the Montgomery County Animal Matters Hearing Board in Rockville, Maryland. While in this position, she worked closely with animal control officers, board members, county attorneys, and citizens on animal cruelty cases. In 1999 and 2000, she provided social work services to incarcerated adult males at the Maryland House of Correction as part of a social work internship. And in 2000 and 2001, she interned with the Affiliated Santé Group, a community mental health agency in Silver Spring, MD, where she provided psychiatric rehabilitation services to persons with a chronic mental illness. Ms. Prevas received a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2001 and a B.A. degree in sociology and criminal justice from Mount St. Mary's College in 1998. She joined The HSUS staff in September 2001. Sharon Quillen Adams Executive Director Virginia Beach SPCA As director of Virginia Beach SPCA, she is responsible for overall administration and programmatic activities of shelter; liaison to the Board of Directors, volunteers and the donor community: responsible for overall budget development and implementation with an emphasis on grants and large gifts. She conducts a variety of training both locally and statewide on a variety of topics. Sharon has extensive experience in the human service/public sector, not for profit sector and private industry. Volunteer activities include the League of Women Voters, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and various children, women and environmental groups and local and state appointed commissions and task forces. Co-founded a variety of community-based organizations including a battered women's shelter, a regional women's legislative roundtable and two regionally based environmental organizations. Ms. Adams graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Public Administration, from Old Dominion University. Dr. H. Marie Suthers-McCabe Associate Professor Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Suthers-McCabe is Director of the Center for Animal Human Relationships (CENTAUR) an innovative new academic center for the Study of the Human-Animal Interface in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Dr. Suthers-McCabe earned her DVM degree from The Ohio State University in 1982. She serves as faculty advisor for the VMRCVM Pet Loss Support Hotline, chairs the Virginia 4-H Pets/People Curriculum Component Committee, and serves on the Certification Board of Animal Assisted Therapy at Winchester Medical Center and Shenandoah University and the Human Animal Bond Committee of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Saint Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation, the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association and the American Association of Human Animal Bond Veterinarians. Dr. Suthers-McCabe is a Veterinary Medical Officer with the Veterinary Medical Assistance Team-2 of the National Disaster Medical System Teresa Dockery Director of Spay Virginia Virginia Federation of Humane Societies Teresa Dockery has been a legislative liaison to the Virginia General Assembly and member of the Animal Control Officer and Humane Investigator Advisory Committee to the State Veterinarian, the State Animal Control Training Committee, and The Department of Criminal Justice's Animal Control Officer Job Task Analysis Committee. She is currently the Director of Spay Virginia, an initiative of VFHS to provide additional spay/neuter services to the Commonwealth. She has been an advisor to the Richmond Spay and Neuter Foundation, instructor at Southwest Virginia Law Enforcement Committee and Board Member of the Tennessee Humane Association. She served for two years as Vice President of VFHS prior to becoming President, and as President of the Bristol Humane Society for eight years. She holds a BS degree from VPI & SU and lives in Abingdon with her husband, one dog and three cats. Dr. Tod W. Burke Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Radford University As an Associate Professor, Dr. Burke instructs undergraduate and graduate students in the field of Criminal Justice. His duties include academic advising, research and publication, committee assignments, program development and community service. He has been a college educator since 1985. Prior to his teaching career he served as a police officer for five years in Maryland. His research interests are: school/campus violence; domestic violence; serial and mass murders; issues in policing and forensic science Dr. Burke received his Doctorate in Criminal Justice from The City University of New York/John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a Master of Philosophy from The City University of New York/John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, New York. a Master of Forensic Science from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. Judy L. Casteele Associate Director for Community Development Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley. Ms Casteele has worked at the Women's Resource Center for 12 years serving as the Domestic Violence Program Coordinator and Adult Sexual Assault Program Coordinator before being named the Associate Director. Judy is certified by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as an instructor on domestic violence and sexual assault related issues. Judy serves on the Board of Directors of Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault. Judy was a 2000 recipient of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Victim Assistance Award. She received the 2000 Advocacy Award from the Virginia Chapter of the International Association of Forensic Nurses for her work in promoting the use forensic evidence collection in the field of domestic and sexual violence. Judy was named "Community Woman of the Year" during Women's Month 2001 at Virginia Tech and was recently honored by VAASA as a 2001 Vanguard award recipient. Ms. Casteele is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Bluefield College with a B.S. in Human Resource Management. Ellen Lankford Brown Director of The Women's Resource Center, Domestic Violence Services Total Action Against Poverty (T.A.A.P.) Ms. Brown has been Co-Director of T.A.A.P. Families In Transition Department since April 1987, she is also the Director of Transitional Living Center for Homeless persons since it was founded in 1988, as well as the Coordinator of all Family Development Activities at T.A.A.P. Ellen was formerly with the Virginia Dept. of Corrections for eleven years, in Case Management and Staff Development/training. She received a B.A. from Roanoke College. She is the mother of three children and is a native of Roanoke |
