The Western PA Farm Alliance will host a training session about equine neglect and abuse investigations.

The private session will be Monday at an undisclosed site in Butler County. Attendance is by invitation only.

District attorneys, police officers, representatives from the state Department of Agriculture, attorneys, farmers and equine professionals have been invited.

Alliance officials said about 200 invitations have been sent out and they have been getting a good response.

The main presenter will be Colleen Shelly, the owner and chief training officer at the Animal Crime Institute, a Fogelsville, Lehigh County, organization dedicated to training and education on animal crimes.

Shelly is a retired state police trooper who was an animal crimes investigator. She developed the state police’s first basic animal cruelty and animal law course offered to federal, state and municipal police officers.

The training session will an overview of topics including animal cruelty, the state cruelty to animals statute and the role of animal rescues.

The alliance was formed in May and has a goal of protecting the rights of animals and animal owners, and to make sure standard protocols for animal law are followed.