363 Derby Road
Middletown, NY, 10940

(845) 386-9738
– Dog Team: Ext. 2
– Cat Team:  Ext. 3

}

Daily: 10 am – 4 pm (EST)

info@petsalive.org

Here is the Jersey Shore Animal Center in Brick, New Jersey:

Looks like a nice place.
They kill innocent animals that other reputable organizations ask them for.
cat3We’re all familiar with the story now…it’s the same one that 70% of the rescue groups surveyed are familiar with. Same thing the ASPCA did. Same thing that happens day after day after day in this business. In this case a mother cat and her 5 kittens are going to be killed when they could be here at Pets Alive lounging in a cat room or living comfortably in someone’s home.
Same old story. Ignorance and indifference on the part of the people who have a moral responsibility to those animals and were trusted by the people who brought them there. Here’s the full story:

cat4A very nice woman from New Jersey found a mother cat and 5 kittens under her garage. She took care of them for a few days and decided that they were better off in good homes than under her garage. She called many organizations trying to find someone to take them. She struck out until she called Jersey Shore Animal Center. JSAC agreed to take them. And if you read their mission statement it seems like a good fit:
The JERSEY SHORE ANIMAL CENTER is committed to the rescue and care of unwanted, abused, abandoned, sick animals and to the adoption of these animals to responsible, loving homes.
So she brought the cats to the shelter.
She called the next day to ask how they were doing.

cat8

She was told the mother tested positive for FIV (Feline Aids), and the mother and kittens were being killed tomorrow.
She told them she would take the cats back. She was told she couldn’t have them back. Sigh. So we come to the first alternative to death. But Jersey Shore Animal Center had decided that killing the mother and the kittens was better than letting the person who saved them have them back.
So she called us.
cats2Again…as we always do, we thought this was a no-brainer. Maybe we just don’t get it. JSAC is, frankly, a group of people who are appallingly ignorant about caring for animals in general and about feline FIV specifically. First off, JSAC never tested the kittens before deciding they needed to die. Mother cats don’t always transmit FIV to kittens. So if that was the reason for putting them on the death list it was not necessary.
And even if they ALL had FIV, it’s hardly a big deal. Here are a couple of articles that they obviously didn’t read:
Good Article here
And here too
Here’s some interesting stuff:
A long term FIV Monitoring Project was carried out at Glasgow Veterinary School over a number of years and the results indicated that a higher percentage of FIV negative cats died during the period of the study than FIV positive cats!
cats1But Pat Wallace, Director of the shelter says that they are better off dead, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
We were deeply offended by this lack of respect for the lives of these animals, so we started calling around. That’s when things really got ugly. I called Ms. Wallace and asked her if we could just work this out. Simple…give us the mom and the kittens and they can live out their lives in our FIV room. She said it was their policy to euthanize FIV cats (same thing she said to Kerry) and NO they wouldn’t make an exception. She and their lawyer backpedaled later in the day under pressure from the press, but she didn’t return my call to say come get the cats…we’ve decided not to kill them.
Kerry and I both asked her for the names of the members of her board, information we are entitled to under federal and New Jersey law. She refused. I formally requested a review of their financials and board meeting minutes at their office. She told me that they would call the police if I showed up. This is a direct violation of Article 15A:5-24 of the New Jersey state statutes.
cat6These people are amazing. They are ignorant of the law that applies to their businesses. They are ignorant of the disease that affects their animals. They are morally reprehensible to a person.
So I did some research and came up with the person who I thought was the President of the organization. Her name is Rosemary Todino. She lives in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ and she’s in the book. So I called her. She returned my call this afternoon and it’s obvious that this fish stinks from the head down, as my grandfather used to say. She assured me that she knew what was going on and when I asked her point blank if she condoned the killing of these cats she said “absolutely” without hesitation. She mumbled something about their being strays, [so they deserve to die].
Any relation to Ed Sayres? There is no moral relativism. If you say these cats deserve to die, then all animals deserve to die. She dismissed me when I dared to state that, heaping derision upon me. Then she hung up in my face, something that seems to be the corporate mantra at JSAC.
cat7So the board believes these cats should die. The director believes the cats should die. How do I know? THEY TOLD ME.
When a reporter for the local paper called them for comment they, through their attorney of course, insisted we had misunderstood what they said. “We don’t euthanize FIV cats as a matter of policy” he crooned. “And no decision has been made on whether to euthanize these cats.”
And my attempt to exercise my right under both state and federal laws to view their books was considered a threat by their hired shark. That’s funny.
So here we are my friends in another quest to save innocent animals from the stupidity, arrogance and ignorance of those entrusted with their care.
If these cats were in Delaware or California they would be safe. Not so New York thanks to the ASPCA and not Jersey either.
Let’s change that.

Oh, and by the way…all the kittens pictured in this blog?
They are all FIV positive kittens, living happily in our FIV room.
Did THEY deserve to die too?

cat5

Translate »