Dog operation scrutinized despite charitable nature

Resident who takes in

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer


JERRY WOLKOWITZ Gail Drysdale hugs Bo, a yellow labrador, in her Helmetta home last Monday. Bo is owned by Drysdale and is not up for adoption.JERRY WOLKOWITZ Gail Drysdale hugs Bo, a yellow labrador, in her Helmetta home last Monday. Bo is owned by Drysdale and is not up for adoption.

Gail Drysdale of Helmetta kisses her collie, Hannah, as two Saint Bernards, Mad Max and Casey, dash quickly for the back door. Goldie, a yellow lab, chews hungrily on a dog bone in the kitchen while a mutt named Bo lounges languidly on the living room sofa.

Bear and Sully are sleeping in a bedroom and others are playing in the back yard.

On Monday Drysdale counted nine dogs in her Main Street home. Next week, or any other week, she could have less, or possibly a few more. The most she’s had at a given time is 17, she said.

"These are my babies," she said. "I like that they are always giving you love. They show nothing but affection. They respond 100 percent to positive reinforcement, and that’s so wonderful. They forgive. People could take a lesson from the dogs’ forgiving and lovingness."

Drysdale, a former interior decorator who has resided with her common-law husband, Ron Baum, in the borough since August 2001, is an active member of the Saint Bernard Rescue Foundation, a 112-year-old national nonprofit organization that takes care of dogs until they find a suitable family to adopt them. Since July, Drysdale said, she has provided foster care and found new owners for more than 35 dogs.

"God did not bless me with children, and I have always been an animal lover, ever since I was a little girl," she said.

Drysdale’s undying love for "man’s best friend" has recently placed her at odds with local government agencies. A Dec. 9 letter from the Middlesex County Public Health Department cited Drysdale for running an unlicensed kennel. In part, it informed her that if she wants to continue fostering dogs, she must go before the borough’s Zoning Board to request a use variance.

Drysdale thinks she is being treated unfairly.

"What they are charging me with is ridiculous. Do you see a business?" she said.

Drysdale said her mission is strictly humanitarian, and stresses that she is not boarding, breeding or financially benefiting from the dogs.

She said she wants to provide a safe place for the dogs to continue to live, as she believes some businesses who cannot sell dogs put them to sleep.

"[Saint Bernards] are a wonderful family breed. They are evaluated and temperament-tested, and they are capable of a second leash on life. I don’t want to run a kennel. To me, I want to bring dogs from a kennel," she said.

Unlike running a kennel, Drysdale said, her service costs her a great deal of her own money. Caring for the dogs can cost her approximately $30 per week, excluding the $15 to $500 spent on veterinarian services monthly. Drysdale said she also finances the services of a licensed behaviorist to come in and train the dogs.

"We get donations. We charge adoption fees for dogs. That helps cover the cost of vetting them, feeding them and housing them. I personally don’t make a penny," she said.

Drysdale said her troubles began in October when she took down an old, more private fence that was in her back yard and replaced it with a wire fence, revealing just how many dogs were actually there.

"All of a sudden," Drysdale said, she started receiving complaints that the sounds of barking dogs were disturbing her neighbors.

Although the borough’s noise ordinance does not take effect until 10 p.m., the continuous barking of a dog at any hour constitutes a noise violation, according to Borough Clerk Sandy Bohinski.

Drysdale has not been cited for violating the ordinance to date, and the homeowner said the dogs are usually very quiet and were only barking after being provoked by neighbors.

However, a neighbor of Drysdale’s, who asked not to be identified, told a reporter that the dogs are a nuisance and are "making noise constantly," he said.

"[Drysdale] is not being fair to her neighbors. She is violating every zoning ordinance in the book," he said.

The neighbor also reported that he witnessed Drysdale and Baum power-washing the dogs’ waste from the back yard of their house to a publicly owned area to the rear of her yard.

He said he is also concerned about the effects of having sick, previously homeless dogs, in the vicinity.

Complaints from neighbors prompted visits from Borough Code Enforcement Officer John Kerwin, Zoning Official Brian Mitchell and the Middlesex County Board of Health, who determined that the variance was required.

"I’m neurotic about cleanliness," said Drysdale, who noted that she cleans up after the dogs by placing their waste in plastic bags and placing them in the garbage — a method deemed acceptable by the board of health. Drysdale also said the dogs she cares for are not sick.

"Where they got [the notion of] sick dogs, I have no idea?" she said.

The county health department’s chief registered environmental health specialist, Mickey Gross, said cleanliness in Drysdale’s house was not an issue. The bottom line, he said, is that Drysdale is providing a shelter to numerous dogs in her home which violates a state law requiring all kennels and shelters to comply with municipal zoning laws.

Gross said the health department is willing to work with Drysdale and explain the laws or any other technical issues she may not understand, he said.

In spite of her dilemma, Drysdale places some blame on the borough, saying it has no ordinance regulating the number of dogs one owner can have.

Drysdale said she intends to apply for the use variance from the borough, and is scheduled to appear before the borough’s combined planning and zoning board in January.

"I don’t mind going before the planning board and saying, ‘Please allow me to keep my dogs in my house,’" she said. "There is no way I’m going to give up rescuing dogs. I’m not. It is my hobby. It is my life’s mission."