Foundation grant boosts
Farm Friends Program capabilities

Thanks to a grant from the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, Otsego County’s only farm animal rescue program is poised to take things to the next level.

The Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SQSPCA) Farm Friends Program began as an offshoot of the Otsego County Animal Cruelty Task Force, an ongoing partnership between the SQSPCA, the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office, and local veterinarians since 2019.

The SQSPCA hosts an animal cruelty hotline, assists with cruelty investigations, and houses and/or finds temporary housing for animals that have been seized from cruelty situations.

The Farm Friends Program and its “Here To Help Hotline” were established in January of 2021 to prevent hardship from escalating to cruelty.

“After two years of patchwork solutions to address an ever-increasing number of situations involving farm animals, we began to analyze our farm animal cruelty data to develop a more proactive approach. It became clear that we — the SQSPCA — are receiving these cruelty calls because there are simply no farm animal rescue or farm relief organizations in this rural and low-income region,” explained SQSPCA Executive Director Stacie Haynes.