Tony Danias, humane officer at the McKean County SPCA, received
the Humane Officer of the Year Award on Sept. 21 from the Federated
Humane Societies of Pennsylvania.

The award was given to Danias at the annual meeting and awards
banquet for the federation, which includes more than 60 animal
shelters throughout the state as members.

Richard Gorton of the McKean County SPCA said he filled out the
nomination form for Danias, highlighting his dedicated service to
the SPCA.

“Everything added up to him being an excellent employee,” Gorton
said. “I’ve never been involved with more than just sending this
in. I wasn’t expecting it. It was really nice that he got it. When
he sees the things that he has to see every day, he really does
deserve it. A lot of people don’t realize what he has to see every
day.”

Gorton said nominations for staff who do an outstanding job are
taken locally from the different member organizations each year for
the annual conference. Gorton said a number of peers involved in
the federation are asked for input on the nominees, which helps the
federation make a selection.

“When you’re (chosen) by your peers, you feel you’re entitled to
something like this,” Gorton said. “This is quite an achievement
for him since it covered the whole state of Pennsylvania.”

Gorton said Danias was up against other humane officers from
different humane societies from all around the state.

Danias said Gorton made an effort to make sure he attended the
meeting, but Gorton said Danias attends most of the SPCA
conferences to continue his education. Gorton said Danias didn’t
know about the nomination until his name was announced as the
winner at the conference.

“I was shocked,” Danias said about winning the award. “Half the
people in the state of Pennsylvania don’t know where Bradford is.
You go ‘I’m from Bradford,’ and they go, ‘Where’s that?’ And you
say, ‘It’s in McKean County,’ and they go ‘Well, where’s that?’ And
you say, ‘It’s about 80 miles south of Buffalo.’

“I was looking around the room. There are people in Philadelphia
that see animals on a daily basis, like 100 animals at a time.
McKean County, most of the time, is different than that. It shows
the support that the SPCA gets in McKean County. We have a lot of
solid supporters. That’s the only reason we’re here.”

Danias said he has never been nominated for the award
previously.

In addition to the Humane Officer of the Year Award, Danias said
the federation also awarded the Shelter of the Year Award to the
Friends of Animals in Pittsburgh as well as awarding individuals
with the Volunteer of the Year Award and the Employee of the Year
Award, which was awarded to a woman who had worked at the same
place for 49 years. Danias said he could not compare to working
those number of years.

“Something even more exciting to me was it was the 100th
anniversary of the Pennsylvania Federation of Humane Society,”
Danias said. “It’s the oldest active (federated humane society) in
the country.”