If I contact LHS, would they tell me that he has been dropping off the stray cats from my area? Do you have a number I can contact them?

Plans to reform Animal Control are unlikely to end controversy

Thursday, September 03, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Prompted in part by the case of Daisy the cat being dumped in Lincoln Park, the Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services has a new plan for improving its troubled Division of Animal Control.

In a three-page memo issued Aug. 5, Harry Melendez, the department's director, said he plans to create an advisory committee to include some animal activists, and that he will extend the division's hours of operations from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning in the middle of the month. Currently the office is open 8 to 4.

Animal activists have complained for years that the Division of Animal Control - which is supposed to be on call 24 hours a day - frequently fails to answer emergency calls on nights and weekends.

Residents also complain of alleged rude behavior from dispatchers and about a failure to follow departmental guidelines.

For example, last winter, two Division employees were caught dumping Daisy, a cat, in Lincoln Park, instead of taking her to a shelter - contrary to division policy, according to a city spokeswoman.

Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop persuaded the City Council to consider his proposal to create an Animal Control Committee to oversee the division. But Melendez argued that the committee would usurp his authority, and in June the council scrapped the idea and directed Melendez to come up with his own plan.

Melendez's "Animal Welfare and Population Control Committee" is to include animal activists, division employees, representatives from the Liberty Humane Society and the New Jersey Department of Health, and a veterinarian.

It will meet monthly, beginning this month. There is also a new subcommittee on feral cats, which has already met twice, Melendez said.

The director said he is contemplating adding weekend shifts, has hired a new employee to evaluate Animal Control services, and is looking into adding a phone menu to the division's phone system.

Fulop has complained Melendez's plan doesn't specify how employees would be held accountable for mistakes and doesn't address the problem of unanswered emergency calls.

David Norman, president of the nonprofit Hudson Animal Advocates, has called the plan "woefully inadequate" and agreed that creating a second shift wouldn't address Animal Control's lack of response, saying that daytime calls to the office are sometimes not returned.

Fulop and Norman both raised questions about the Liberty Humane Society's ability to act independently on the committee since the shelter is largely funded by the city.

Janet Russell, director of development for Liberty Humane, dismissed those concerns, saying her group has always acted in the best interest of animals.

Melendez didn't return phone calls or e-mails asking for a response to these criticisms.

AMY SARA CLARK can be reached at aclark@jjournal.com.



©2009 Jersey Journal
© 2009 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

One year ago tomorrow Daisy the cat was dumped in Lincoln Park. Are we any better off now than we were a year ago with animal control?

So where does the city stand now on animal control issues?
I believe the City Council rejected Steve Fulop's idea of contracting with L.H.S.

It’s amazing how cats could survive in frigid weather conditions. Thank God that this little critter had a happy ending as well as Daisy.

Annie, a 13-year-old tuxedo cat, disappeared near Norfolk, Mass., during a snowstorm in early December on the day her family was moving.

Five weeks later there was still no sign of the cat and her family feared the worst.

They put up missing pet fliers and contacted Animal Control for help.

And this past weekend, their prayers were answered.

A report came into animal control about a cat rescued from a snow bank.

"Basically, when I picked her up, she had no signs of life. She was stiff, she was unconscious, cold to the touch and not responding to anything," said Hilary Cohen, a Norfolk Animal Control officer.

Despite the ordeal, Annie is expected to make a full recovery.


http://content.usatoday.com/communiti ... vives-after-thawing-out/1