By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
HELMETTA — The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) is poised to take over the beleaguered Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter, according to a Nov. 19 letter.
"The purpose of this communication is to inform you that it is the current intent of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) to seek receivership of the Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter (HRAS) from the Borough of Helmetta," the letter to the borough’s mayor and council states.
The NJSPCA, which is a state law enforcement agency tasked with upholding humane laws regarding animal rights and treatment, gave the shelter, located at 58 Main Street, 48 hours to voluntarily turn over operations to the agency in order to avoid legal action.
In the letter, NJSPCA said that the poor conditions at the facility have not been corrected following two inspections by the Middlesex County Health Department in September that found multiple violations and ended up quarantining the shelter.
"Much to our dismay, none of the recommendations for corrective action were followed," the letter states. "In fact many of the conditions worsened."
The agency said that the Borough of Helmetta would still be financially responsible for the operation of the shelter during the estimated 120 days it would be in receivership and the violations corrected, according to the letter.
The move comes a week after several of the 21 towns served by the facility, including Monroe Township, terminated their respective contracts.
"Of the 20 towns (served by the shelter), we were the last to execute a shared services agreement in January 2013. Reported substandard conditions at the Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter have been concerning in the last few months," Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton said after ending the contract last week. "We were hoping that steps were being taken to improve conditions. However, when the shelter’s own veterinarian described the conditions as horrific (last) week, it became important for Monroe Township to terminate its agreement."
Mr. Hamilton said that the township hand-delivered a letter to the shelter on Nov. 12 terminating the contract "effective immediately."
" We also needed to protect the Township’s liability exposure," Mr. Hamilton said. "We are returning to our previous animal shelter – Blumig Kennels in East Brunswick."
Mr. Hamilton said the township spent $14,250 with Helmetta this year as compared to $15,070 with Blumig in the previous year.
Cranbury Township is also researching a change in its relationship with the facility and that animals that would have gone to the shelter are being placed in another facility.
Township Administrator Denise Marabello said Thursday that the township would be putting shelter and animal control services out to bid and, once the information is compiled, the Township Committee would decide whether or not to renew Helmetta’s contract.
She said the current contract with the shelter expires Dec. 31.
In the letter, the NJSPCA said it has been monitoring the situation since the county quarantined the shelter for a variety of issues and "was gravely concerned" that they have not yet been addressed two months later.
"Simple matters such as who has access to the facility, the lack of cleaning of cages, basic feeding, the co-mingling of sick and healthy animals, insufficient veterinary care, the lack of disease control protocols, the majority of the animals thin or emaciated, the need for emergency vet care of some severely sick animals, are all of a very disturbing nature and require immediate action," the letter states. "This is a huge distraction from what should be everyone’s main concern, the animals. NJSPCA receivership would allow for a professional management approach without the political overtones and interference that currently exist. You, the elected officials of the Borough of Helmetta, need to do the right thing and step away from this shelter temporarily so that major changes in operations can take place under the direction of the NJSPCA. The community has very obviously lost faith in HRAS and Helmetta’s ability to safely and properly manage this facility. This much needed facility can and will become a model regional shelter of which Helmetta can be proud. However, this situation must change now."
During an exclusive interview and tour of the facility in October, the shelter’s former director, Michal Cielesz told the Cranbury Press that the shelter was still in the process of fixing things such as the floors, outdoor dog play area as well as problems with paperwork to address the concerns of the health department.
"We are still fixing the floors (gluing them back down in the dog run), the outdoor thing (dog play area), and (in) our paperwork the identifications are on everything, and that was a big issue," she said during an October interview.
Helmetta Director of Public Works Darren Doran said then that the shelter has been arguing with a contractor for two years about issues on the floors upstairs.
"We had a contention with the builder of the floors upstairs in the kennel from the beginning," said Mr. Doran. "We have been fighting them for two years. He’s not going to (fix) it, so it’s going to be on us."
He said it is going to cost around $50,000 to have all the floors upstairs replaced and the borough will need to go out for bonding to finance the repairs.
"The outside run needs a concrete pad with drainage," he said, adding that repair will cost approximately $18,000.
