I am sure LHS would freely give their records. They are good people.

It's the greedy underhanded SOB "control officer" Hector Carbajales that has caused such an outrage. The fact that this guy is not in jail is reprehensible. He should rot the same way that he left those poor animals at the Hudson SPCA. Him and his wife both. Absolute scum.

LHS isn't a no kill shelter (i dont think). So i'm sure they do put down several dogs and cats each year that are not adopted and/or they cannot support financially.

Regardless, the humane society is a good cause.

Seriously, there are just a lot of scumbag, corrupt and unethical individuals working/elected in this city and county.

I've met a couple of great city workers, cops etc but they are overshadowed by the actions of folks such as the animal control officers mentioned above. There is a culture of corruption that permeates this place.

It might be time to investigate how many animals Liberty is killing each year. Does anyone in the public know? Why isn't the public told?

State to probe Jersey City animal control officers

Friday, June 27, 2008
BY BRIAN T. MURRAY
Star-Ledger Staff

The state Department of Health and Senior Services is under court order to investigate allegations Jersey City animal control officers illegally entered an apartment, took a pit bull and dropped it off at a shelter to be put down as a stray.

The saga of Spanky, a canine eventually reclaimed by its owner and not destroyed, is just the latest animal control dispute to drop on the Hudson County city, where 16 dead animals were retrieved earlier this week from an unplugged freezer.

The carcasses of dogs, cats and a goats were found at a defunct shelter run by the troubled Hudson County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The shelter's former director is facing criminal charges of improperly disposing of the carcasses and medical waste.

But now it's Jersey City's own animal control staff under the microscope for complaints initially raised back in December 2005.

"Allegations of officers willfully and illegally taking a dog from its owner and falsifying records to claim it a stray, so as to expose it to adoption by another or euthanasia, calls for the department to take action," ruled a state appeals court Tuesday in an 18-page decision demanding the Department of Health investigate the case.

The decision was prompted by a lawsuit filed in 2006 by Liberty Humane Society, a nonprofit that shelters animals picked up by Jersey City officials. Liberty Humane claimed it was opened up to serious liability when Spanky was dropped off on Dec. 22, 2005, after Jersey City's chief animal control officer and an underling did a favor for a landlord by removing the dog from a Winfield Street apartment when the owner was not home.

No notice was left for Spanky's owner, and a city officer falsely claimed on shelter documents that Spanky was a stray, Liberty Humane charged in court documents. The papers went on to claim the dog's owner discovered Spanky's whereabouts only after another officer tipped her off. The shelter said Spanky, if left unclaimed, could have been euthanized after seven days.

The state health department certifies animal control officers and regulates shelters in New Jersey, but claimed it had no jurisdiction to investigate or revoke the certification of the officers, court documents show. The state appeals court strongly disagreed.

"It is both arbitrary and capricious for the department to ignore its duty to determine if revocation of certification is required," the court wrote, contending the state, "has a duty to consider serious allegations against the officers it has certified to serve the public."

The court ordered the state to make findings of fact for a subsequent court review.

The state Department of Health declined to comment, contending the ruling is still being reviewed by the state Attorney General. Jersey City officials also said the matter still is being reviewed by city counsel.

Liberty Humane directed its allegations at Jersey City's chief animal control officer, Joseph Frank, and Officer Emanuel Machado, claiming Frank ordered the removal of the pit-bull as a favor to a friend of his wife, who also works with city animal control.