16/12/2021
URGENT ACTION NEEDED - YOUR PET MAY BE SEIZED AND KILLED
The New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee is holding a hearing on bill S4058 tomorrow at 10 AM. Please contact the Senators on the committee using the message at the bottom of this post.
S4058 would enable authorities to charge you exorbitant fees if your pets were seized for alleged animal cruelty and you'd have surrender ownership of the animal if you can't pay. While the bill allows a judge to reduce those charges, it does not alter the shelter's assessed veterinary costs (which could include costs relating to the animal getting sick at a shelter). If you can't pay those costs (which could be thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars), the shelter takes ownership of your animal and can kill your pet. In many cases, people are falsely accused of animal cruelty and are ultimately found innocent. This bill makes them pay the ultimate price (losing their pet) even if they are later found innocent.
So why are regressive animal welfare organizations pushing this terrible law? Money. Regressive shelters want to immediately take ownership of harder to adopt animals to kill them faster and reduce their costs and work. Additionally, the highly compensated executives of several large state shelters want to immediately take ownership of easy to adopt animals from hoarding cases to immediately adopt them out at high fees. For example, the ASPCA CEO and Humane Rescue Alliance (runs St. Hubert's) made ~ $825,000 and $382,000 in 2019. Finally, regressive shelters and the ASPCA want to fundraise off these animals and do as little work as possible.
Please email the committee at [email protected] and email and call the Senate Environment and Energy Committee members below and say the following:
Dear Senator Smith, Senator Greenstein, Senator Bateman, Senator Codey and Senator Corrado:
Please vote against S4058 as the cost of care provision will put every single pet owner in New Jersey at risk of having authorities seize and kill their pets. Under the bill, people accused, but not convicted, of animal cruelty would have to spend potentially thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, which would far exceed what those pet owners would ordinarily incur, to shelters to prevent those organizations from taking ownership of their pets. Once the shelters take ownership of their animals, the shelters are free to kill those pets. In many cases, people are falsely accused of animal cruelty and end up being found innocent. This bill would make those people pay the ultimate price even if they are found innocent.
I urge you to vote no on S4058 for the following reasons:
1) It will unfairly seize and kill the pets of people falsely accused of animal cruelty due to their inability to pay exorbitant fees
2) Animals should not pay the ultimate price for their owner's inability to pay
3) The bill will disproportionately harm poor people and people of color
4) Requiring foster care and robust enrichment would reduce costs and increase animal welfare far more than this bill would
5) Sheltering costs are down significantly in recent years and those facilities already receive funding for court case animals
6) This bill is a cash grab and is being pushed by wealthy animal welfare organizations with exorbitantly compensated leaders
Senator Emails: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Phone Numbers:
Senator Smith: 732-752-0770
Senator Greenstein: 609-395-9911
Senator Bateman: 908-526-3600
Senator Codey: 973-535-5017
Senator Corrado: 973-237-1360
Hearing location and Time:
Thursday, December 09, 2021 - 10:00 AM
Meeting - Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
S4058 bill: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S4500/4058_I1.HTM
