Things just aren't going to be easier for NJ shelters

[Maddiesgirl]

This was on the news this morning. I went and looked, hoping it was a hoax.

This will not make fund raising for already overcrowded shelters in NJ any easier.:(
They have three LARGE shelters in regions of NJ, Newark, Tinton Falls, and one other. The radio news stated (unconfirmed in the newspaper, but now the image is out there) that the money went to organized crime connections.

From March8,2003 New Jersey Star Ledger

Ensuring animal welfare
Saturday, March 08, 2003

The State Commission of Investigation charges that the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey, the largest animal rescue and shelter operation in the state, held onto millions of dollars over the past decade while animals were neglected.

AHS was described as an organization dominated for more than three decades by Lee Bernstein, who stubbornly refused to spend money to improve the quality of care for animals and brazenly ignored state laws and regulations with which he did not agree.

The report acknowledged significant improvements in conditions and quality of care at the three AHS shelters since the investigation began in 1998 and found no evidence that Bernstein or other officers profited personally.

An assemblyman has asked the state Attorney General's Office to place AHS into receivership and has called for civil and criminal investigations into the organization and Bernstein -- who has resigned as director but remains as a consultant. That seems like overkill.

Bernstein denied the charges and said the organization was merely being prudent, socking away money for lean times because it depends largely on donations. There's nothing wrong with that unless too much was being held in reserve at the animals' expense. Part of the problem is the failure of the state to meet its obligation to ensure compliance with its guidelines.

AHS performs a needed service. The organization operates in mostly urban areas where large numbers of strays are dumped off or abandoned by people no longer able to care for them. Whatever its faults, AHS fills a void. The state must now provide the followup needed to avoid problems in the future.

Let's fix what is broken and await the findings of a special state task force that will begin studying animal welfare issues this year. Until then, let operations like AHS continue -- with improved oversight -- to provide what for the most part has been the only effort to ensure the welfare of animals.