Montclair Animal Shelter Faces Criticism About Euthanasia, Animal ‘Importing’

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Animal Shelter took a beating when an April blaze gutted the facility. But now it’s facing a challenge of a different kind.

A recently launched online campaign called “Reform the Montclair Township Animal Shelter” is calling for renewed focus on the municipally run shelter’s policies, including euthanasia practices and efforts to rescue more local animals.

The petition – which has garnered almost 500 signatures as of Thursday – calls for five main points of change at the shelter, which also contracts to provide animal services to Nutley and Verona.

1. Stop importing animals from out of state. We need to get our own affairs in order before we can think about helping other communities. Rather than rescuing puppies from the south, let’s form a partnership with a shelter like Newark to rescue some of the harder to adopt pit bulls in New Jersey.
2. Create and enforce a humane euthanasia policy. Euthanasia should only be used as an absolute last resort for suffering animals, with the approval of a veterinarian.
3. Remove the Department of Health from the equation. The neighboring Bloomfield Animal Shelter was once managed by their Department of Health. However, they have since separated and are now making positive progress in rebuilding.
4. Create better health and safety protocols. Every animal who gets sick must be properly quarantined immediately. Additionally, every dog who bites must be quarantined for the required ten day bite hold. There were many dogs that were not quarantined after a bite who ended up biting again. Each time a dog bite occurs, a dog trainer must be consulted for an evaluation and training period.
5. Establish an environment of respect. There must be some sort of due process to settle disagreements in a fair, civilized way.

See the full petition here.

ANIMAL SHELTER ‘TURNAROUND’

The recent petition isn’t the first time that the municipally run shelter has come under fire from community members.

In 2014, members of the municipal Animal Welfare Advisory Committee reported that alleged mismanagement at the shelter was causing a range of issues, including long evaluation times for new animals, animals not being socialized and exercised regularly, inventory and supply shortages, and a general lack of community outreach and volunteer coordination.

However, following the hiring of former shelter director Niki Dawson, town officials issued a news release in March praising the “major transformation” that the municipally run animal shelter underwent since she took the helm.

The reported improvements included:

• A better “quality of care” provided to the animals
• More accurate record keeping
• An “enhanced and more robust” volunteer program
• Cross-training for both staff and volunteers, resulting in “more efficient operations”

“I wanted to make sure the shelter runs more efficiently with specific protocols and procedures in place,” Dawson said at the time. “Cross training staff and volunteers to perform a variety of functions allows us to accomplish so much more in a streamlined, cost-effective way that ensures our animals receive the best possible care.”

Dawson also credited the MTAS’ collaborative work with other shelters with increased pet adoption rates.

For example, a partnership with the Humane Society of Jefferson County, Tennessee, resulted in 118 additional dogs - many of them puppies - being saved from euthanasia and adopted at Montclair’s shelter, Dawson said. In addition, the MTAS took in 63 animals from other New Jersey shelters and eight from a shelter in Georgia.

• See related article: Montclair Animal Shelter Showing Improvement: Town Officials

And then in April – barely a month after town officials issued their glowing praise of the shelter’s turnaround – a devastating fire ripped through the building on April 3.

The April 3 blaze – which started in the rear of the facility - ripped through the shelter, causing heavy fire damage to the kennel area, extensive heat and smoke damage to the outside rear of the structure, and moderate smoke and water damage to the interior, according to Montclair fire officials.

The conflagration also rendered all the shelter’s 30 dogs and 41 cats homeless but luckily caused no major injuries to animals or humans, officials stated.

• See related article: Montclair Shelter Engulfed In Fire, Animals Safe
• See related article: Gimmie (Animal) Shelter: Montclair Community Responds To MTAS Blaze

After overseeing recovery operations, Dawson announced in June that she was resigning as director of the shelter to take a position as assistant director with the Associated Humane Societies, which maintains shelters in Newark, Forked River and Tinton Falls.

• See related article: Montclair’s Animal Shelter Director Resigns

EUTHANASIA STATS

One of the petition’s main issues revolves around euthanasia practices at the Montclair facility.

Kyle Pelling, a Montclair resident and ex-volunteer at the shelter, said that Dawson faced backlash from the community and shelter volunteers when the decision was made to euthanize some of the shelter’s animals, namely a miniature pinscher named Martin.

“The policy stated that dogs acting aggressively would be afforded a ‘reasonable training period’ with a professional before the shelter would decide to euthanize,” Pelling said. “After several incidents, Martin never saw a dog trainer and was instead put straight to sleep. The Montclair Township Animal Shelter then dismissed a number of staff and volunteers after they voiced concerns about the shelter’s violation of its euthanasia policy.”

The same fate awaited two cats named Ally and Rosebud, who were allegedly euthanized for aggression after spending mere days in the shelter with minimal opportunity for socialization, Pelling charged.

In essence, the shelter will no longer give animals it labels “aggressive” the opportunity for rehabilitation, Pelling alleged.

“I don’t even think Montclair Township Animal Shelter can call itself a no kill shelter anymore since no kill facilities must try to rehabilitate animals with behavioral problems before deciding to euthanize,” says Pelling.

According to state intake/outcome statistics, the Montclair facility had a 96 percent live release rate among 960 animals that left the shelter in 2015, town officials reported in March.

Other 2015 statistics include:

• 592 total cat intakes – (384 adopted, 156 TNR, 23 released to owner, 32 transfers/rescues, 17 euthanized)
• 261 total dog intakes – (187 adopted, 64 released to owner, 17 transfer/rescues, 2 euthanized)
• Total “other animal” intakes – 50 (including 30 “wildlife”)

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: Montclair Township

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