Each year, the First Strike® campaign works with hundreds of local advocates around the United States to organize workshops in their communities. The central theme of these workshops is that animal cruelty is a highly visible form of family and community violence.

The workshops are generally day-long programs. If you are interested in planning a workshop to raise awareness about the connection between animal cruelty and human violence in your community, or having a speaker from The HSUS present at a conference, please call the First Strike toll free number at 1-888-213-0956 or e-mail firststrike@hsus.org.

Through these workshops, we hope to provide the support and foundation necessary for the development of interagency collaborations that enable early identification and intervention in cases of animal cruelty and human violence. Specifically, the workshops fulfill the following goals:

1. Provide an opportunity to introduce local professionals involved in animal care and control to their counterparts in human services who deal with abused children, women, and other victims of family and community violence.
2. Educate representatives of the law enforcement and legislative communities about the seriousness of animal cruelty cases in the larger context of family and community violence. This is particularly helpful if there have been recent cases that have attracted attention due to insufficient enforcement.
3. Provide a foundation for the establishment of a local antiviolence coalition. Such coalitions might then meet on a regular basis to discuss issues such as cross-training, research, legislation, intervention strategies, and community education.
4. Bring these issues to the attention of the local media. This is particularly helpful if there are local media people clearly identified as advocates for animal protection, domestic violence, or child welfare issues.

In addition to presenting First Strike information at local workshops around the country, representatives from The HSUS conduct presentations at dozens of state, national, and international conferences each year. We continue to expand outreach efforts to various professional groups and associations.