Liberty Humane receives $10,000 emergency grant

The ASPCA has given a grant of $10,000 to the
Liberty Humane Society (LHS) in Jersey City after the LHS stepped in to help animals rescued from the Hudson County SPCA (HCSPCA), which is also in Jersey City. The HCSPCA was closed in early April after a court order
mandated the removal of the animals due to a history of abuse and neglect. Members of LHS and area Animal Control officers removed more than 40 animals from the shelter in a single night.

The grant will be used to offset the costs of hiring additional kennel assistance, pay for an industrial washer and dryer, and help purchase more kennel cages toaccommodate the rescued animals from the HCSPCA. Janet Russell, LHS’ director of development, says the shelter is actively working to place the rescued animals into permanent homes and has been greatly helped by volunteers from the HCSPCA coming over to LHS. One of the biggest short-term challenges is getting the rescued animals on a schedule. Russell says that many of them have never been walked or taken out of their cages on a regular schedule they could learn, so kennel staff
members are constantly cleaning their cages.

With the closure of the HCSPCA, Liberty Humane Society will be forced to take on a larger service area, but Russell says the shelter is up for the challenge. “We can definitely handle Jersey City’s stray/overpopulation/surrender animals,” she says. “The problem is that the HCSPCA served two other municipalities, Union City and North Bergen. We cannot accommodate their needs with the present facility and staff, but we are in regular talks to work out a suitable plan. None of us at LHS want to see future animals from these two facilities suffer because of the shut down, and we are doing everything that we can to position ourselves to be of service.”

“Over the years, the Liberty Humane Society staff has shown an exceptional commitment and dedication to animals in its community, and this instance is no exception,” says Julie Morris, the ASPCA’s senior vice president of national outreach. “I am glad we can provide them with this support in their time of need.”

The HCSPCA will re-open no sooner than mid-May, when it has a court date.

Oakland shelter celebrates 30 successful years

Running a no-kill shelter isn’t easy. It takes money, devoted shelter workers, a network of foster families, and the tireless work of volunteers. So when one hits its 30th anniversary of successful work in the animal community, it’s cause for celebration. The Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge, in Oakland, will be celebrating its anniversary with an open house at the shelter on May 31, complete with vendors, demonstrations, and, of course, pets looking for new homes.

The shelter, which saves about 1,000 animals each year, is hoping that the open house will help educate people about the importance of adopting. “There are great animals available for adoption,” explains Kevin Boyle, a board member. “We want people to think twice before buying from a puppy mill or breeder.”

The open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2 Shelter Lane in Oakland.

For more information, visit RBARI.org.

Shelter volunteers needed

The John A. Buwkowski Animal Shelter in Bloomfield is looking for volunteers to help out at the shelter and at related events. According to Patricia Post, a shelter
volunteer, there is currently a small group of core volunteers, but more are needed to make things run smoothly. Volunteer opportunities include more than simply cleaning out cages and feeding the animals; the shelter is also looking for “cat socializers,” (people who pet, brush, and give attention to shy kitties), adoption day volunteers, administrative help, and more.

For more information, email basanimals@yahoo.com.

Olympic clean-up effort involves extermination of cats

The world is well aware of the massive clean-up effort under way in Beijing prior to the 2008 Olympic Summer Games—but people may not know that ridding the city of stray cats through grossly inhumane means is part of this endeavour. The Chinese government is reportedly engaged in the extermination of hundreds of thousands of stray cats throughout Beijing. Officials, according to the UK newspaper the Daily Mail, are systematically taking cats from off the streets to “death camps,” where the cats perish from starvation and disease.

The government is exacerbating the presence of cats roaming city streets through a propaganda campaign claiming that cats carry several diseases contagious to humans, including the SARS virus. The campaign has created mild hysteria in the population. Animal activists say the fear of contracting diseases from their cats is prompting many guardians to abandon them.

The government claims that citizens can adopt stray cats from 12 pounds throughout the city, but animal activists say that accessibility to these facilities is severely limited. A group that had adopted 30 cats from one compound reported that half of the cats subsequently died from disease. The government has since barred the group from entrance to the pounds.

An estimated 500,000 cats have been culled by the Chinese government thus far. —Melissa Wiley