Support Humane Society Police Officer Glen Thomson

WAHS is very sorry to share that Glen Thomson passed away on April 2 at 8:30 pm. His wife was by his side and he was aware of this page and all of the support from his family at WAHS and the community. Thank you to everyone who supported Glen and his family on this go fund me. All ecards that were sent to Glen were read to him yesterday. Thank you for sending him support and thoughts. The money from this go fund me will be given to his wife to take care of any medical bills and arrangements.

Here is a statement from his wife Teresa, "I am humbled beyond belief at the support everyone is showing for Glen and the work he does, and I know when he is able to come out of the sedation, he will be too. We are very lucky because Glen does have medical insurance through my job. That means that there is a cap on what we will have to pay in co-pays. With that in mind, if you want to donate from this point on, please show your support for Glen by donating to another worthy charity, whether it be Washington Area Humane Society, another animal charity, or even a non-animal charity. I know he would love to wake up and see that he continues to make a positive difference even when he can't be present."

Glen Thomson, a long-time humane officer for the Washington Area Humane Society had a massive heart attack on Friday, March 13th. He is in critical but stable care at UPMC Presby. The goal of the go fund me is to raise money to cover his medical co-pay and to show support to his wife and family during this difficult time. Glen is sedated and in the critical care unit and due to COVID-19 outbreak cannot have visitors. After today not even his family can visit due to hospital lock-downs. Glen has a serious struggle ahead and the doctors are doing everything they can. We will keep updates on this go fund me on his condition as we get more details.

For a little history on Glen... He started working for WAHS in October of 2013. He worked at the front desk and as a vet assistant until he was sworn in as a humane officer in 2015. Between July, 2015 through March 13th, 2020 Glen rescued over 1,375 animals while working as a humane officer for The Washington Area Humane Society.  Imagine almost saving an animal a day. That has been Glen's career as a humane officer.

Glen does not have any benefits through the job, used his own vehicle and gas to rescue most of these animals, and had a very modest salary paid for by donations to the humane society. He clearly did this job for the love of animals. Glen also cares deeply about the Humane Society and the staff and looks out for everyone like a big brother. We know he has charged 100's of people with animal neglect and abuse. I am going to work on getting exact statistics on how many people he charged for animal abuse and neglect and the outcomes. When I have those I will post on this page.  It is so vital to charge because without charging nothing happens or changes and the abuser repeats history. Glen understood this and acted on the animals behalf. I think it is important for everyone to realize what an unsung hero he truly is.

The situations Glen had to go into were often unimaginable. I assisted Glen onsite for only three calls in my nearly four years at the Humane Society. These included:

- A deceased man in the woods with 7 dogs tied around him.
- A hoarding house with two feet of feces on the floor throughout the entire house and a massive spider infestation. Multiple cats in cages coated in filth nearing death.
- And the last case was a large scale cruelty/neglect case that defies anything I ever could imagine existed in this world where WAHS and HSUS seized 206 animals.
 
Those three calls disturbed me and had a great impact on me.  I can only imagine what Glen has had to internalize and deal with over the years dealing with 300 plus investigations a year. Yet he always came to work and always was there when it mattered. Glen deserves to be honored and thanked for his service and dedication to the animals.

Please keep Glen and his family in your prayers. We are praying he can make it through this.

Glen has truly been a servant to the forgotten, abandoned, abused and neglected animals in Washington County.

Sincerely,
Kelly Proudfit

Executive Director, WAHS