Tag Archives: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

NJSPCA– stop making it harder for citizens to form local SPCA chapters!

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Apparently, the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is at it again.

It wasn’t enough that it refused for 4 years to review the applications of former animal cruelty enforcement officers and animal protection advocates who are seeking permission to form local SPCA chapters…

It wasn’t enough that it forced these interested citizens to bring a lawsuit in order to get a Final Court Order which has directed the NJSPCA to adopt procedures for the review of county chapter applications, so the citizens can get decisions on their applications…

The NJSPCA has now released draft procedures that are so draconian as to outright discourage citizens from applying to form local SPCA chapters.  This is wrong!

Under draft procedures approved by committee, but not yet adopted by the full NJSPCA board, the SPCA would require that before getting SPCA approval to form a chapter, interested parties for each chapter would have to meet stiff requirements including the following:

  • raising tens of thousands of dollars in donations,
  • paying thousands in application fees,
  • obtaining millions of dollars in liability insurance,
  • providing social security numbers for themselves and the people who live with them,
  • listing all animals they own,
  • listing the breeds of the animals they own,
  • providing vet records for their animals the past 3 years,
  • requiring board members to perform law enforcement whether they want to or not; etc.

The NJSPCA should stop making it harder and harder to form local chapters.  The NJSPCA needs to stop its petty “turf games” and its selfish pursuit of all fees and donations for itself at all costs.  Let people get going to form local chapters in their communities so they can get to work fighting cruelty and helping animals!

We have obtained a copy of the press release providing further details; see below:

Former animal cruelty enforcement officers stunned

by proposed NJSPCA procedures that would

discourage citizens from applying to form local SPCA chapters

New Brunswick, NJ.   May 2, 2013

Former animal cruelty enforcement officers and animal protection advocates, who have been trying for four years to get the NJSCPA to grant them approval to form local chapters in Camden, Ocean and Mercer counties, say they are stunned by new draft procedures recently released by the NJSPCA that would make it extremely difficult for anyone to form a new chapter.

The state statute requires the SPCA to “facilitate the formation of county SPCA chapters where none exist.”  None have existed for years in many counties in the state, including Camden Ocean, and Mercer.

In draft procedures approved by committee, but not yet adopted by the full NJSPCA board, the SPCA would require that before getting SPCA approval to form a chapter,  interested parties for each chapter, would have to meet stiff requirements including the following:

  • Raising $10,000 in donations before they can even apply for approval to form a county chapter;
  • Paying a $3,000 application fee;
  • Showing proof of $5M general insurance policy;
  • Identifying 10 board members;
  • Providing the social security number for each board member and the social security number for each person who lives with them;
  • Listing all the animals that they own;
  • Listing the breeds of all animals they own;
  • Providing the veterinary records for the past 3 years for all animals they own;
  • Requiring the local chapter to surrender all its assets of and donations raised by the local chapter if the NJSPCA decides to terminate its charter; and
  • Requiring 6 of the board members to complete intensive law enforcement training within six months of formation – an expensive and time-consuming process – and one that is totally inappropriate when most volunteers may not be suited to performing law enforcement board but participate constructively by organizing, doing fundraising, making phone calls, helping animals find good homes for adoption, or hosting bake sales.

Today, representatives of the approximately three dozen individuals who want to form charters in these counties wrote directly to NJSPCA board members asking them not to adopt the draft procedures, and to instead stop creating delays and new impediments, and finally give them the approval to move ahead to start forming these chapters so they can help animals.

John Micklewright, a Certified Animal Cruelty Investigator, and member of the Camden group, said “state statute requires the board to ‘facilitate’ the formation of local chapters but the SPCA seems to purposely come up with new ways to frustrate the formation of chapters.”

Jane Donoghue, a former Commissioned Humane Law Enforcement Officer with the NJSPCA, and member of the group from Ocean, said: “Animals in these counties continue to suffer because the NJSPCA does not have enough law enforcement  officers to handle cruelty calls.”

Kristine Schmidt, a volunteer for Pet Rescue of Mercer, and member of the Mercer group, said: “The last time that local chapters were approved back in 2008, the NJSPCA imposed none of these impediments.  In fact, the NJSPCA waived initial application fees, waived any requirement to do law enforcement for 6 years, gave applicants a loan, and told them that the NJSPCA would give them half of their revenue for two years so they could get on their feet.”  Said Schmidt, “That’s how you ‘facilitate’ the formation of new County chapters and that’s what the SPCA should do here.”

# # #

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Dante Di Pirro, Esq.

Law Office of Dante Di Pirro

77 Snydertown Road

Hopewell, NJ 08525

609-429-0779

dante.dipirro@gmail.com

 

 

 

Court orders NJSPCA to adopt procedures to review county applications and complete application review within 60 days.

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Yesterday, the New Jersey Superior Court ordered the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to adopt procedures within 60 days for the evaluation of applications for county SPCA societies.  Applications have been pending for County Societies in Camden, Ocean and Mercer Counties for four years without the NJSPCA acting upon them or adopting procedures to review the applications.

State statute establishes the NJSPCA as a statewide entity and provides for the formation of County SPCA Chapters.  The statute provides that a County Society may be formed where there are at least ten interested individuals, but does not specify the process for the granting of the charter.  The statute further mandates that the NJSPCA “shall assist persons in counties without a chartered county society to obtain a charter.”

Plaintiff, Jane Donohue, a former NJSPCA law enforcement officer with ten years’ experience in the southern New Jersey region, said the NJSPCA never adopted a process and never provided any assistance as required by the statute: “Every time we asked about the status of the applications, we were told they were working on it.”  Last year, Plaintiffs gave up waiting for the NJSPCA, and filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court alleging the NJSPCA had violated the statute.  In court papers filed during the lawsuit, the NJSPCA argued that it needed time to come up with procedures to review applications. The matter was called for trial yesterday.  At the time of trial, the NJSPCA still had not adopted procedures.

The Court established strict time frames for the adoption of procedures and completion of the process.  From the bench the Judge stated, once the NJSPCA adopts procedures, Plaintiffs may file applications pursuant to the procedures adopted, and no later than 60 days after submission of an application, the NJSPCA shall act on the application.  The Court further ordered that if the NJSPCA denies an application, it shall set forth the reasons for the denial, and set forth what remedial steps, if any, would correct the deficiencies.

Plaintiff, John Micklewright, a certified Animal Cruelty Investigator active in Camden County with over fifteen years of experience in the animal field, said “It’s a travesty for animals and the public interest that the NJSPCA board introduced and approved county charters for friends at a single meeting in December 2007, but when individuals not hand-picked by them applied for charters in 2008, the NJSPCA board suddenly declared a need to form a committee to establish procedures to review charter applications, and four years later has not even adopted procedures to review these applications.”

Plaintiff, Kristine Schmidt, a member of Pet Rescue of Mercer for over ten years, said, “At least now we have a mandate that the NJSPCA take action, and do so by specified dates.  Three dozen people have been trying to volunteer to help animals; it’s high time the NJSPCA let them.”