AHS Newark Shelter Gets Grim Report While Animals Suffer

On Aug. 22, spurred by a complaint, four Newark and New Jersey Department of Health officials performed a joint inspection of the AHS Newark facility. While touring the building, the inspectors allegedly witnessed all manner of violations.

This is tragic and disturbing on so many levels, especially given the fact that AHS Newark is reportedly sitting on several million dollars that could be used to completely rehab the facility and hire more staff.

It should be noted, though, the the AHS Volunteers do an amazing job under terrible conditions and they advocate for those animals as well as humanly possible.  They are a wonderful group of caring, loving, giving people.

The shelter system is BROKEN and it’s an indictment of our society as a whole that we allow this to continue.

 

 

Finally, Animal Cruelty is Rewarded with Jail Time

A Staten Island man was sentenced to 300 days in jail Friday on animal cruelty charges for inflicting serious injuries on a dog that resulted in the animal’s death.

I don’t have statistics, but it is common knowledge that animal abuse, even the killing of innocent animals, rarely results in jail or prison time.  It’s a problem in our society – many of us truly care about animal welfare, but not enough of us are putting pressure on legislatures and law enforcement agencies to do what they should: enact strong laws and enforce them.

Information about the conviction and sentencing of Nicholas Piccolino can be found here.