According to Liz Jones, for part of the last three years, Lehigh County has not had a local humane police.

That has changed.

Brittney Chukyo, of Northampton, was sworn in Dec. 11 as a humane police officer, working through The Sanctuary at Haafsville.

She completed her coursework earlier this year.

Chukyo will handle the following municipalities in Lehigh County:Weisenberg, Washington, Heidelberg, Lynn, Lowhill, Coplay, Catasaqua, Emmaus, Lower Milford, North Whitehall, South Whitehall, Lower Macungie, and Hanover (Lehigh).

If there is interest, she may also apply to be a humane police officer in Northampton County.

Chukyo has been involved in animal welfare efforts for over 12 years.

If she has a weakness for any specific animal, it is for blind cats and kittens.

Many area shelters call her when they receive such felines.

She rescues them, provides necessary medical treatments then looks for furever homes for them.

Chukyo can be contacted at: 610-415-8495.

The Sanctuary, located in Breinigsville, rescues, rehabs and rehomes stray, abandoned, unwanted and abused animals.

This year they will save over 1,000 dogs and cats.

The Sanctuary holds low cost, humane animal control contracts with 13 municipalities.

The shelter accepts dogs, friendly stray cats and provide access to trap, neuter, return for wild cats.

In the state of Pennsylvania, a humane police officer is a private police officer.

They are paid not by the state but by the humane organization the officer is associated with, in this case the Sanctuary at Haafsville.

The Sanctuary would certainly appreciate any private individuals, corporations or organizations who would like to donate toward salary and expenses associated with investigating alleged cruelty cases and, if necessary, going before the courts with those cases. The Sanctuary's web page is www.thesanctuarypa.org.

The shelter also has a Facebook page, The Sanctuary at Haafsville.

Both sites contain donation buttons.

Donations can also be mailed directly to The Sanctuary at: P.O. Box 921, Fogelsville, 18051.