After spending over 30 years in the animal welfare world, Humane Pennsylvania (HPA) President & CEO Karel Minor knows a thing or two about helping animals and their caretakers who love them. As the second longest-tenured leader in animal sheltering in Pennsylvania, he is looking back at the progress made and strides taken over his 20 years as CEO of Humane PA.
What do you love most about working for Humane Pennsylvania?
What I love most about working at Humane PA is our culture of asking, “What needs to be done and how can we do it?” HPA isn’t bogged down in dogma (no pun intended!) about how we’ve done things or how things “must” be done. If it works, we continue doing it and try to improve. If it doesn’t work, we try new things until it does. That may seem like an obvious approach but it’s still all too rare in animal welfare.
How has the organization changed/evolved since you started working for HPA? And what keeps you motivated to do the great work you’ve been doing for the past 20 years?
Over twenty years ago, I left animal welfare because the industry as a whole seemed like it was fixated on explaining why things couldn’t
be done, usually with no real data to back it up, just opinion and gut feeling. Animal welfare felt hopeless and fatalistic and if you suggested we could save animals’ lives and help people try new things, our peers looked at us like we were stupid. If you suggested adopting cats at Halloween, waiving adoption fees, or adopting at Christmas, people thought you were insane. Twenty years ago, when I started at HPA, which was known as Berks Humane Society at that time, I met a core of staff, board, volunteers, and donors who were willing to be open-minded. They saw that what we had been doing wasn’t working- at least not for the 4,000 animals being euthanized each year- and they took the risk with me to try new and even taboo approaches. It worked, we kept it up, and we helped spread that attitude around the country.
Are you a dog, cat, or critter person?
I don’t have to choose so I don’t! My family is currently supervised by four cats (Susu, Monkey, Thud, and Winnie), a baby turtle rescued from death in a parking lot (Ulysses S. Grant Wood Turtle), and three Costa Rican dart frogs. We are dogless after losing Treetop, the world’s best Labrador, to old age a few years ago.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
My greatest influence in animal welfare is Dr. Michael Moyer, who hired me at my first shelter 32 years ago. Back then, he was the extremely rare executive director who happened to be a veterinarian. He approached animal welfare like a scientist, used data, and encouraged me to do the same. However, my biggest professional influence is my wife, Dr. Kim Minor, who was one of the extremely rare educators who is a genuine genius, uses data and genuinely cares about doing what’s best for kids, even when it’s hard or personally risky. There is a bizarre similarity to how the education system writes off a lot of kids just like many animal shelters do with animals. Her example of doing what is right for each individual child and how that improves the well-being of children as a population has always motivated me to do the same for animals and the families they are attached to.
What’s one thing you’re learning now, and why is it important?
The thing I think I’ve had to grapple with in the last few years is that no amount of planning, willpower, or even unlimited resources can make some things work. When there are numerically too few vets for the number of open positions, a pandemic shuts down construction projects, or bad laws get passed all you can do is make the best of things. HPA has accomplished so many things exactly the way we planned that it can be a rude awakening when sometimes all you can do is make things better, but better is still better.
What do you see as your biggest accomplishment since your start with Humane Pennsylvania?
I think “my” biggest accomplishment is creating a team responsible for “our” accomplishments. We have talented, dedicated staff who
have been with HPA ranging from just one year to nearly twenty years. One person can’t succeed alone and we have built a group who take their work seriously and know they can make a concrete positive difference for the animals and people in our community.
What’s one of your favorite Humane Pennsylvania memories from the past year?
We recently dismantled a closed Rite Aid store to get $100,000 worth of gondola shelving for our new warehouse store-style pet food pantry and upcoming thrift shop. It was a stupid amount of work for three days but we saved $96,000 and it was a reminder that when we need to we can buckle down and get the work done ourselves!
What three words would your coworkers use to describe you?
I shudder to think! It probably depends on who you ask, but I think one word few would argue with is, “intense.”
What’s one fun fact about you that we might not already know?
I love art. I love making it, seeing it, and learning about it. I agree with Nietzsche: “We have art so that we shall not die of reality.” That doesn’t sound fun, does it? Like I said, intense describes me, I guess.
Thank you, Karel, for all you have done and continue to do for Humane Pennsylvania and the animals in our care!
When a mosquito has a blood meal from a dog that has adult heartworms, the microfilaria is taken in by the mosquito and undergoes transformation to a larval stage, which can now be a source of infection for another dog. This larval stage parasite is injected from the mosquito to another dog with the next blood meal the mosquito takes.
larval stage of the heartworm before it has the chance to mature into an adult worm and cause excessive damage.
Thursday, February 23, 2024, is World Spay Day, and 
pets will prevent future costly issues such as uterine infections, cancers, and behavioral problems. For more information or to make an appointment, please visit our website: 
Humane PA is very excited to share details about our next steps to deliver the most impactful services to animals and people in our community! The needs of animals and the community have rapidly changed a great deal in recent years. In the last 20 years, the number of animals entering Humane PA shelters has declined by over 85%. Shelter euthanasia has declined by 99%. These numbers reflect national statistics.
stemming from house pets, the limited and scattershot approaches for feral and free-roaming cats have not been as successful. That’s because sterilizing a few cats from this colony and a few from that colony leaves plenty of cats behind to breed. Humane PA is now taking a different approach, based on data and models with proven success. Since February, under the leadership of free-roaming cat whisperer, Alex Young, our Healthy Pets Initiative staff have been working directly with caretakers of colonies ranging from a half dozen to a hundred cats. One colony at a time, we have been sterilizing 100% (or as close as possible) of partner-managed colonies. By sterilizing every single cat in an extremely short time frame, we ensure there are no new litters, avoid boom and death cycles, and make it possible to effectively intervene when one or two new cats move into a colony.
We heard this loud and clear in a recent survey of our supporters. Over 90% of respondents said they thought there needed to be more affordable options. Over 60% of respondents told us that they had faced barriers of some type that prevented them from accessing, including cost or the health or behavioral challenges of their pets. Humane PA knows that some of these pets might end up in shelters if owners can no longer access routine boarding services. Humane PA also knows that there are few or no boarding options regularly available for emergency response, domestic violence victims, those facing health crises, and police dogs.
services may feel very different or even alien to what is perceived as “animal sheltering”. Although we had the kernel of an idea over a decade ago, since then several organizations around the nation have pioneered boarding programs to address the new needs of their communities to great success. These services are needed and they make a difference, whether it’s the pet of an adopter or a police dog of an officer needing to travel, the cats of someone displaced by fire, the dog of someone who is admitted to the hospital with a heart attack, or the pets of those trying to flee domestic violence
I don’t like to admit it, but as an independent rescuer for decades, I became judgmental of people who struggled to give basic care to their pets. When I met pet owners who did not match my level of pet care, it was easy for me to immediately deem them as uncaring and irresponsible without knowing any further details! However, when I started working professionally in animal welfare, I met people who had the same empathy for the animals, but with far less resources. They were rescuing outside kittens, helping injured strays or inheriting pets from friends/family that can no longer care for them and sometimes, they need a little help. 
turn, leaves more space at the shelter for the animals that really need a safe place, vet care and possibly a new family (or are reunited!). 
benefit from our organization’s enrollment in a food program that provides the same brand and type of food to everyone. Ongoing participation in this program results in a win-win situation:
There’s nothing more exciting to a pup than heading to the wide-open spaces of Humane Pennsylvania’s 
Did you know that Humane Pennsylvania is a proud sponsor of the 
The perfect way to show that you appreciate your pet is by 
Many refer to me as a “crazy cat lady,” but I don’t mind. I have spent more than 20 years advocating for the rights of and implementing humane management of free-roaming/community/feral cats in Berks County. I took care of 29 inside cats for four years and have volunteered in animal rescue for my entire life.
Although your cat still exhibits some wildness about them, rest assured that they are dependent on you to provide healthy food, adequate shelter, proper stimulation, and an annual veterinary exam to keep them in tip-top shape.
Last year, Humane Pennsylvania made some huge leaps forward. Our veterinary services expanded by opening HPA’s Healthy Pets Walk-In Clinic in Berks and Lancaster. This unique, no-appointment wellness option, priced at 40% of standard pricing, opened a door to pet caretakers for accessing vet care who were not served by existing veterinary options. It proved overwhelmingly popular, and we quickly expanded and filled!
their ability to access services.
services and programs for years to come. We will be updating the community regularly through newsletters and social media. We will also be re-introducing HPA’s Welcome Waggin’ tours in April to offer you a behind-the-scenes look at the work we are doing to better serve animals and people!
