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| The HSUS |
HSUS President and CEO Wayne
Pacelle recognizes Samantha Mullen for her work. |
The HSUS is saddened to announce the retirement of Samantha Mullen, regional program coordinator for The HSUS Mid-Atlantic Regional Office.
Mullen retired July 31 after 13 years of service to The HSUS and a lifetime working for animals. She spent the last six years in the regional office, where she was point person and expert in dogfighting, animal hoarding, and companion animal legislation, to name a few.
Mullen has been an exceptional and dedicated employee and will be greatly missed.
Prior to coming to The HSUS, Mullen was director of the New York State Humane Association where she organized training events for animal shelter personnel and lobbied regularly in Albany.
She was the leading person in bringing about the closure of Justin McCarthy’s Animals Farm Home in a case that brought national attention to the phenomenon of animal hoarding 20 years ago.
Some highlights of Mullen’s outstanding career include:
- Spearheading the investigation of James Fricchione, publisher of the Sporting Dog Journal, an underground dogfighting magazine subscribed to by thousands of dogfighters and breeders of fighting dogs throughout the country.
- Working with prosecutors and The HSUS’s animal protection litigation department to ensure that a restitution order would require indemnification for the shelters that cared for Fricchione’s dogs during the adjudication of the case.
- Providing frequent guidance to shelters, law enforcement personnel, and others on the complex issue of animal hoarding.
- Forming Animal Hoarding Information Network (AHIN), consisting of animal sheltering staff, psychologists, and other professionals. The information disseminated by AHIN has served to demonstrate the severity and pervasiveness of the hoarding problem.
- Planning the annual Empire State Animal Protection Forum, a conference held annually in various venues in New York.
Fortunately for animals, Mullen will continue working with the New York State Humane Association, where she has been elected to the board of directors. We wish her the best of luck, health, and happiness in this new endeavor.
