Scores of people give their hard-earned money to groups dedicated to preventing animal cruelty, like the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  They give donations during the year and leave money in their wills to the NJSPCA.  In either case, they give expecting that the money will go to help animals.

These generous individuals need to know that the NJSPCA has been using precious funds in needless litigation against volunteers who are merely trying to open local SPCA chapters so they can join in the fight against animal cruelty.

In December 2008 and February 2009, three dozen volunteers wrote to the NJSPCA seeking approval to open local SPCA chapters in Camden, Ocean and Mercer counties.  However, over three years later, the NJSPCA has not taken any action on these requests.  Given the NJSPCA’s long-standing failure to act on the requests, the volunteers had to file a lawsuit asking the Superior Court of New Jersey to step in and grant the languishing applications, so they could start helping animals.

When it was served with the lawsuit, the NJSPCA did not acknowledge that by statute it is mandated to assist individuals to create county chapters where they do not exist.  The NJSPCA could have apologized for the delay and made amends by immediately approving the charter requests.  Instead, the NJSPCA hired outside legal counsel and has been fighting the lawsuit which is set to go to trial February 4, 2013 in Middlesex County.

Fighting cruelty takes people and it takes funding.  The NJSPCA should know this.  It should stop dragging its heels, grant the county charter requests so that the volunteers can get to work without further delay, and stop spending money resisting  volunteers when the money is needed to protect animals!