Now that the Liberty Humane Society, a local animal activist group, has taken over one of the city’s two shelters, they are hoping to expand it.
Last week, concerned pet lovers sent out an e-mail saying the shelter had run out of room and that the city had to refuse to take in a new stray that was found. They were trying to place existing strays with foster parents as quickly as they could.
Niki Dawson, the current manager of the Liberty Animal Shelter on Jersey City Blvd., said last week that the summertime is kitten season, as many female cats give birth during this time of the year. This puts a burden on shelter space, along with stray dogs that are brought in by Jersey City Animal Control.”By state law, we’re required to keep strays for eight days,” said Dawson, who has worked in animal shelters in New York and New Jersey for the past 13 years.
Dawson said that the shelter – after this eight-day period known as a “stray hold” – has one of four options.
“The animals are either adopted out, entrusted to a private rescue group, transferred to another shelter or, as a last option, are euthanized,” said Dawson.
Dawson also said that she was “very relieved” about the Jersey City City Council’s recent decision to award its management contract of the shelter to Liberty Humane Society, a group that had fought for a new shelter in Jersey City from the beginning.
In the past, the city’s only shelter was the old county SPCA on Johnston Avenue, which had been investigated by the state for its poor conditions.
The city terminated its contract with the Hudson County SPCA in 2002 due to overcrowding at the facility as well as alleged incidents of animal abuse, including a dog being hit with a shovel. That’s when the newer shelter first got the contract to accept animals for the city.
Now that the LHS has taken over the new shelter, Dawson said, they will be able to go ahead with plans to expand the shelter’s space to accommodate more strays.
“It will allow us to go ahead with plans to transform the shelter into a full-service facility,” said Dawson.
Taking over
Former Mayor Bret Schundler had begun negotiations for the Liberty Humane Society to take over animal shelter services for Jersey City in the 1990s.
But it was at a recent council meeting on July 14, 2004, that the City Council finally awarded LHS the contract to run the shelter for five years, starting Aug. 1. The city will pay LHS $250,000, plus a 3 percent annual increase.
Currently, it costs the city $278,000 per year to run the shelter.
The shelter, now known as the Liberty Animal Shelter, is located at 235 Jersey City Blvd., across the street from the Liberty Science Center. It has been at its current location since February 2002 and had been run all along by the city with support from LHS.
Diana Jeffrey, president of LHS, said last week that the recent action by the City Council was a “historic moment.”
“This resolution passed by the City Council shows that we, as a people in this society, care about animals and the animal owners,” said Jeffrey, who has been with LHS for the past four years.
Jeffrey and other members of the Liberty Animal Shelter were in the audience at the previous City Council meeting, where they received applause from City Council members and others in attendance.
Jeffrey, a practicing lawyer, said that while the resolution calls for LHS to take over the management of the shelter in August, she had not received the contract for review at the time of this interview, and it will be several weeks before matters regarding LHS’s role in the shelter’s management are finalized.
But Jeffrey promised once the LHS took over the management of the shelter, plans would be in place to expand the shelter’s capacity, with construction to start in 2005.
LHS was founded in 1998 when members of the Hudson County Animal League left to form an animal shelter. LHS gives homeless cats and dogs a chance to be adopted into loving homes by providing volunteer and financial support to the Liberty Animal Shelter.
Gimme shelter
Among the volunteers who were happy about LHS becoming new managers of the shelter was 13-year-old Mackenzie Lew.
During a visit to the shelter by the Jersey City Reporter, Lew could be seen feeding and playing with Jackson, a two-year-old male domestic shorthaired cat, and Fancy Pants, also a male domestic shorthaired cat who is only 1 year old.
“I like volunteering here a lot, and it’s very good if this place continues to provide a home for animals,” said Lew.
Earlier this year, LHS signed a 45-year lease for the use of the building.
What about the SPCA?
The other shelter, the SPCA on Johnston Avenue had served previously as Jersey City’s official animal shelter until 2002 and is still the only other shelter in the entire city.
The SPCA had been the subject of a statewide investigation in 2000 that uncovered various violations, including the sale of dog food for profit, inadequate veterinary services, and poor record keeping.
In June 2000, it was reported that a SPCA worker had beaten a dog several times with a shovel, which brought about a series of protests leading eventually to the hiring of a new executive director.
But in a recent article in the Jersey City Reporter, current President Stanley Ropotel said that the facility has been running smoothly since he took over almost two years ago.
The SPCA currently has room for 50 or more dogs, as reported in recent articles. It is run solely on donations and only accepts animals from residents. It also has a no-kill policy for animals, and makes efforts to place animals for adoption or to refer them to private services.
Calls to the SPCA were not returned before this article went to press.
Animal control
Recently, LHS announced that it is joining with a group called People for Animals as part of an ongoing effort to offer spay/neuter vouchers for animals to residents of Jersey City. The voucher program enables qualifying Jersey City residents to obtain low-cost spay/neuter services and vaccinations, including the one for rabies, for their pets. There is a co-payment in the amount of $10 per cat and $20 per dog. If a voucher recipient is unable to afford a co-payment, then the voucher will be provided free of charge.
For more information, call the Liberty Animal Shelter at (201) 547-4286 or People for Animals directly at (908) 369-3193. For more information on the services provided by the Hudson County SPCA, call (201) 435-3557.
SIDEBAR Pet project
The City Council’s decision to award the contact to the Liberty Humane Society to run the city’s shelter is a struggle that goes back to the Bret Schundler administration, when Schundler proposed to build a shelter near the intersection of Route 440 and Communipaw Avenue. An article in the Jersey City Reporter dated May 21, 2000 chronicled the concerns over the cost and placement of the proposed shelter.
Then-City Councilwoman Melissa Holloway asked, “Where is the money coming from? Who’s paying for it? Who owns it?” when the issue was addressed at a City Council meeting on May 10.
But there was support from several council members for the construction of the shelter, including Council President Tom DeGise and councilmen William Gaughan, Mariano Vega, and then-councilperson Rev. Fernando Colon.
Norrice Raynmaker, founder of LHS, pushed for a multi-purpose shelter that would attend to animal obedience training, pet boarding and grooming, veterinary care, spaying and neutering, and licensing. The LHS also advocated for a new shelter they would help run, since the Hudson County SPCA facility, still located on Johnston Avenue, had been under investigation for not complying with state regulations on overcrowding of animals and other violations.
The Schundler proposal eventually failed, but in February 2002, the city eventually opened its own shelter as ties to the SPCA were severed.
The new shelter at its current location was once office space for a construction company. But it soon became a home for 25 dogs and an estimated 20 to 40 cats. The LHS has said that there is little room for the animals kept at the shelter, and they are hoping to expand now. – RK