Animal Shelter, Newark Trade Blows Over ‘Litter Box Rule'

NEWARK, NJ — An increasingly bitter standoff between the city of Newark and the largest animal sheltering system in New Jersey has a dirty, new battleground: litter boxes.

On Thursday, the Associated Humane Society’s (AHS) Popcorn Park Shelter took a swing at city officials in a social media post, calling a newly enacted “no plastic litter box” rule for their Newark shelter “ridiculous.”

According to the AHS:

“Our AHS Newark facility is in a real jam right now, thanks to city officials that have imposed such ridiculously strict rules on the inner city shelter that cares for hundreds of animals on a daily basis. After a health inspection that revealed maintenance and housekeeping violations, many of which were very minor and corrected within days of the inspection, the city of Newark continues to impose rules that no other animal shelter in the state must follow. One of these rules is not being able to use plastic litter boxes. AHS Newark must now purchase cardboard pop-up litter boxes, pay staff members to fold and stack them daily, resulting in time and money being taken away from the animals in their care. Sad, isn't it?”

AHS administrators continued:

“It's getting ridiculous that the city of Newark, where animal abuse, dog fighting, cats being thrown out of apartment windows and dogs being tossed from moving cars, now requires that cats and kittens have cardboard litter boxes, but rules are rules we suppose. PLEASE, bring us your cardboard canned food trays! We will collect them here at AHS/Popcorn Park and send them up to Newark weekly. The trays needed are the kind pictured here. You can drop them off to us anytime at 1 Humane Way, Forked River, NJ, or bring them directly to AHS Newark at 124 Evergreen Ave.”

However, Newark administrators told Patch on Friday that there is no such directive and that they were "baffled" as to why the AHS would make such a post.

According to Ketlen Alsbrook, chief of staff of the Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness:

“There was no directive from the city to the Associated Humane Society requiring the use of cardboard litter boxes instead of plastic and we are baffled about where they got that notion. With regard to inspection of the shelter, it is hard to know which inspection the society is referring to because we inspect them weekly to deal with ongoing issues. The outstanding issues we are addressing at AHS are the scraping and repainting of dog kennels, and also finalizing their cleaning and sanitation protocols. The next planned visit is scheduled for the week of September 3, 2018.”

It’s not the first time in recent history that the AHS has gone on the offensive against the city over animal welfare issues. Last month, when a family of abandoned, caged pit bulls were rescued after spending weeks trapped in their own filth in a Newark apartment, the AHS blasted the city for allegedly turning a blind eye.

AHS staff wrote on Facebook: “The City of Newark Animal Control was called, but they never responded, never came out to help.”

The situation escalated into a chain of emails between AHS-Newark Assistant Director Robert Russotti and city administrators.

“I understand that Newark may have certain protocol restricting access to private property, but please, in the future, if you are aware of such a situation, please at least notify us, in the event you cannot immediately respond, especially when dogs' lives are in dire jeopardy,” Russotti wrote. “These three dogs could easily have died.”

After receiving an email from Newark administrators that the city will “hopefully avoid any future similar incidents,” Russotti ended the online conversation with a friendly tagline.

“I do appreciate your efforts and I am sure we will soon all be working together for the same cause without further issues… Just working out the kinks.” (Story continues below)

• See related article: Newark Neglected 3 Pit Bulls Found Nearly Dead, Humane Societies Says

NEWARK AND AHS: WORKING WITHOUT A CONTRACT

The Associated Humane Societies' jabs at the city come at a turbulent time in the organization’s history.

The nonprofit is currently working without a contract and with a “conditional” city license at its Newark facility. It’s operating under the previous terms of the agreement “as a courtesy,” according to Russotti.

City officials provided the following details about Newark’s contract situation with AHS last month:

“The most recent contract with AHS ($675,000 per year at a per capita rate of $2.50) was set to expire January 31, 2018. It was extended in March and again in April at a reduced per capita rate of $2.25. Per a court ruling (sometime in April or May), AHS was granted their request to have their per capita rate increased to $3.50 effective May 2018. An emergency contract between the city and AHS is pending for April through June 2018. We will need to request an extension on that emergency (once it is declared) to cover July, etc. The delay is that AHS has not provided the required forms necessary to execute the emergency.”

Here’s what Newark’s recently expired contract with the Humane Societies calls for:

• Animal Sheltering - 24 hours, 7 days a week (includes feeding, watering and exercising of animals)
• Medical treatment services for animals as needed
• Crematory services for animals as required
• Animal Pickup Services (“Dead or Alive”) - 24 hours, 7 days a week on weekends and holidays (on an emergency basis at the request of the city)
• Animal Pickup Services – From 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. (on an emergency basis at the request of the city)

In addition to its Newark facility, the AHS, which describes itself as "largest animal sheltering system in New Jersey," also maintains shelters in Forked River and Tinton Falls.

According to 2016 intake report data obtained by the NJ Animal Observer blog, AHS-Newark is paid to provide animal control and holding/impounding services to Belleville, Carteret, Clark, Fanwood, Hillside, Newark, Irvington, Linden, Fairfield, Plainfield, Roselle, Rahway and Winfield Park.

The contract uncertainty in Newark comes after a scathing public outcry about alleged animal abuse at the AHS’ Evergreen Avenue facility in August 2017.

• See related article: NJ Inspectors Find Grim Violations At Newark Animal Shelter

During a state-led inspection of the shelter – which also included Newark city officials – New Jersey Department of Health inspectors reported a medley of violations that included:

• Bags of animal carcasses left laying outside the building
• Sick animals with bloody urine, diarrhea, vomiting, Kennel Cough and nasal discharge
• Dogs and cats kept in cramped, dark enclosures without exercise

In an interview with Patch after the August inspection, an AHS spokesperson said that its staff was trying their best to bring the facility up to code. However, during a follow-up visit to the AHS-Newark on Oct. 20, inspectors allegedly found:

• Incomplete and inaccessible animal intake records, including euthanasia records
• Aggressive dogs, bite-hold dogs, and court-hold dogs housed in the basement with inadequate ventilation and insufficient cage space
• Several animals displaying “signs of communicable disease or illness” that were not provided with basic veterinary care
• Numerous animals throughout the facility left without water
• An excessive amount of medical waste that was being stored improperly at the facility

Almost a year after the August 2017 inspection, repairs at the AHS-Newark facility were still ongoing, city officials told Patch last month.

HUMANE SOCIETIES: 'WE'RE MAKING A LOT OF CHANGES'

The allegations of abuse at AHS-Newark have caused a shakeup at the top of the organization.

In the wake of the 2017 inspections at AHS-Newark, former Executive Director Roseann Trezza was hit with eight criminal counts of animal cruelty and eight civil counts of animal cruelty.

"The NJSPCA Humane Police will continue to work with our partners to monitor the situation at the shelter to make sure conditions continue to improve," authorities stated.

• See related article: Head Of NJ's Busiest Animal Shelters Charged With Cruelty

The NJSPCA’s pledge wasn’t enough for some local animal rights activists.

“Oh no, not again!” the Pet Watch New Jersey blog wrote after the 2017 inspections at AHS-Newark. “Same old excuses as last time, and the time before that.”

In October 2017, several sources familiar with the shelter alleged that Trezza ordered volunteers to sign a gag order and refrain from posting about the shelter on social media if they wanted to continue to work with the dogs at Associated Humane Society in Newark.

A September petition to remove Trezza and "stop the killing" gathered more than 4,600 signatures on Change.org. Another petition titled "Roseann Trezza needs to resign from the Newark Associated Humane Society" has gathered almost 10,000 signatures.

In May, the NJSPCA – which has seen its own recent troubles – reported that Trezza may eventually be allowed to return to her position as part of a plea deal that dismissed 16 counts of animal cruelty against her.

For now, Russotti – the AHS-Newark’s assistant director – is the person at the top of the corporate structure in the Brick City, although he emphasized that he answers to the nonprofit’s board of directors.

“We’re making a lot of changes here,” he told Patch in a phone interview last month. “In the future I think it will be very positive.”

• See related article: 5 Adorable Dogs To Adopt In Newark (PHOTOS)
• See related article: Newark Pet Stories: 'The Sweetest 110-Pound Monster I Ever Met'

However, some community activists don't share Russotti's optimism.

Last month, NJ Animal Observer blogger Alan Rosenberg wrote that AHS-Newark's 2017 shelter statistics were "absolutely horrible." Citing data from the NJ Department of Health's recently released Animal Intake and Disposition Survey, Rosenberg said that AHS-Newark killed 415 dogs, or 25% of the dogs who had "known outcomes" last year.

The situation is also bleak for many cats.

“AHS-Newark killed 500 cats or 36% of cats who had known outcomes last year," he stated.

Learn more about the Newark Animal Control Bureau here. Make animal control enforcement and pickup requests at (973) 733-6294 or joness@ci.newark.nj.us

Learn more about the AHS here. Contact them with shelter or animal control requests in Newark at (973) 824-7080 or info@ahscares.org

Don’t forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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