Montclair Animal Shelter Showing Improvement: Town Officials

Montclair, NJ – The Montclair Animal Shelter has come a long way in a short period of time.

Montclair town officials recently sent a news release praising the “major transformation” that the municipally run animal shelter on North Willow Street has undergone in the past year.

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 current shelter director Niki Dawson, conditions at the facility have improved vastly, according to township officials.

The reported improvements include:

• 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. “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.

“The excitement generated by having puppies in our shelter is just incredible,” Dawson asserted. “Having the young pups here has the added bonus of a tremendous increase in foot traffic, exposing our older shelter residents, both cats and dogs, to potential adopters and new supporters.”

In addition, the MTAS took in 63 animals from other New Jersey shelters and eight from a shelter in Georgia.

The shelters requested Montclair's assistance because they were faced with overcrowded conditions, or were dealing with animal hoarding situations, or were simply unable to successfully find an animal a home, town officials stated.

• See related article: Essex County Animal Shelters Euthanized One In Three During 2014

“All of these relationships have resulted in more animals being adopted from our shelter,” Dawson said. “The result is successful rescues for 189 animals that may not have had a chance in life if they had not come to us. The added bonus is an increase in community involvement and support for our shelter.”

In 2015, the Montclair facility had a 96 percent live release rate among 960 animals that left the shelter, according to state intake/outcome statistics.

According to shelter staff, other statistics for 2015 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”)

In addition, the shelter has 545 adult and 325 junior volunteers, a “significant increase” in participation since 2014, township officials stated.

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