SPCA helps animals and their human companions
Pet Walk & Fair benefit takes place Oct. 2 in Marine Park, Red Bank
BY KATHY HALL
Correspondent
Ursula Goetz with Mark, whose owner’s home in Vero Beach, Fla., was damaged in Hurricane Frances. The 17-year-old male cat and Monmouth County native, found a temporary home at the Monmouth County SPCA shelter in Eatontown. ‘Mark’s the only thing I have in the world right now. I don’t want to put him to sleep,” the worried woman explained to Monmouth County SPCA (MCSPCA) Executive Director Ursula Goetz.
Her home in Vero Beach, Fla., had been badly damaged by Hurricane Frances while she and her feline companion of 17 years were visiting Monmouth County. She could stay with friends while her house was being repaired, but her hosts’ dog didn’t get along well with cats.
Although Mark’s owner was only visiting Monmouth County, and the shelter was overcrowded, Goetz agreed to find the cat a foster home with a local family, ideally one where his owner could visit.
The MCSPCA in Eatontown is a private not-for-profit that generally accepts owner turn-ins from anywhere in Monmouth County, and strays from 17 towns in the county, which have no municipal shelters.
Currently, Goetz explained, the shelter is so overcrowded that, for the first time in 15 years, it cannot accept any owner turn-ins until November at the earliest.
Although it may not be evident in its name, a main mission of the county’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is to help people in crisis find a safe and caring place for their animals.
“When there is a fire in a home or apartment and people lose everything, where can they go with their animals in those first hours or those first few days?” Goetz asked. “We take their pets in for one week while they regroup,” she answered.
Pet owners aren’t forgotten either.
“A few months ago, there was a fire in Long Branch. A cat survived and was taken to the vet,” Goetz recalled. “We read about that in the paper and visited the person with cat food and kitty litter. We also looked through our thrift store and found some clothing for him.”
The shelter also cares for animals in other special-needs situations.
“When a social worker tells us a senior citizen is going into a nursing home, and their family either can’t or won’t take their pets, we will take the animals free of charge,” Goetz explained.
(Normally there is a nominal fee for surrendering an animal, since adoptable animals stay at the shelter until they find the right home.)
“We make every effort to place that animal so the elderly person will know that even though they can’t provide for their pet any longer, it will still have a home,” she added.
Military personnel who are being shipped oversees can also turn to the SPCA for help in placing their pets. Although owner turn-ins usually require an appointment to be sure the shelter has room, that requirement is waived for those called to active duty.
“Whether we have space or not, those animals are accepted,” Goetz said.
During Desert Storm, the MCSPCA set up temporary foster homes for pets of service people. Now they place the dogs.
“With the current situation in Iraq, people don’t know when they will return, so it’s not fair to ask someone to foster an animal for such a long time. They become attached. But the first thing we want to say to the people is, ‘We found your pet a good home,’ ” Goetz said.
The shelter also helps victims of domestic violence through a partnership with 180 Turning Lives Around. Many victims of abuse are afraid to leave because they are worried about their pets.
“If they leave, the animal becomes the next victim,” Goetz explained. “When we receive a phone call that a person is going into their shelter, we ask if their animal can be turned in to the SPCA on the way; if not, we are prepared to pick the animal up,” Goetz said.
Pets are housed for up to six weeks, brought up to date on vaccines, and, if the owner gives permission, neutered or spayed free of charge.
“If we can’t find a foster home, the animal stays here. We give out no information on these animals over the phone and keep them off the general population floor so the individual who may have caused harm to the person can’t go into the shelter and take the animal,” she explained.
“When the person is re-established, we return the animal to them if they want. Most do, especially if there are children involved who have missed their pet. But if they feel it is too much responsibility, we find another home,” she said.
Goetz has extensive experience in animal rescue. She was director of operations for the ASPCA in New York City, where she oversaw its shelters in all five boroughs.
In 1985 she left to become executive director of the Bide-A-Wee Home on Long Island, N.Y. Unlike the ASPCA, this was a no-kill shelter.
“But they were very selective in what animals they took in,” she explained. “They didn’t take animals with mange, for example.”
In contrast, the MCSPCA is an open admissions shelter.
“We take animals regardless of their condition. Thanks to the community’s support for our Duchess Fund for sick and injured animals, we can take them to private vets for treatment and they stay until they are adopted,” Goetz said. The shelter receives a 20 percent discount from most local vets.
“We don’t want to end the life of animals needlessly. Shelters have done that through the ages and it has solved nothing,” she added.
“When I arrived here, we did what every other shelter did,” she explained. “When you were too full, you euthanized the animals. Six years ago, my board was very agreeable to changing our direction. Today we do not euthanize any healthy animals that can be adopted. That’s why we are so crowded.”
According to the Web site, in 1997 the shelter cared for 45 dogs and 50 cats at any given time. Today, with no expansion in facilities, it houses 75 dogs and more than 215 cats.
Goetz practices what she preaches and adopted a dachshund mix named Duchess from the shelter. Duchess died last year, and Goetz is definitely considering another MCSPCA alumni for her replacement.
“I’m looking at every dog who comes into the shelter; so far, no one has adopted me,” she said.
Goetz has been with MCSPCA for almost 15 years, and fund-raising is constantly on her mind. The shelter receives no state or federal funding.
“We count on the community through donations, wills and bequests,” she said. According to the Web site, it costs $124,000 a month to fund all the programs they provide.
One of the major fund-raisers, the “Pet Walk & Fair to Benefit Shelter Animals,” will take place on Saturday, Oct. 2, at Marine Park in Red Bank
Goetz organized the first pet walk 11 years ago to help cover the costs of basics. The shelter currently spends $35,000 a year on dog food and $10,000 on kitty litter.
Walkers may register the day of the event between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. and need not have a dog to participate in the one-mile walk through downtown Red Bank.
Other activities in the park include a presentation by the Matawan Police K-9 unit, Bob Warwick and his famous Frisbee dogs, dog agility and flyball demonstrations, face painting, arts and crafts, food vendors and a Doggie Wedding Chapel. The minimum pledge for participation is $25. Last year’s walk raised $91,000 and netted $75,000.
Information on the pet walk and the many other services and programs offered by the MCSPCA can be found at its Web site, www.monmouthcountyspca.org.
“This is really my calling,” Goetz said. “If we don’t speak up for the animals, who will?”