Updated 10:59 a.m. October 13, 2014 with comment from Deputy Village Administrator Adam Loehner.
The Jersey Animal Coalition Shelter will be closing its doors permanently on November 11, according to a release from Ruth Perlmutter, president of the JAC. The closing date has been confirmed by South Orange Deputy Village Administrator Adam Loehner.
Perlmutter reported, “All our animals are now out of the shelter and safe.” Deputy Village Administrator Adam Loehner wrote in an email, “We have not been able to confirm if all the animals are in fact out of the shelter and safe.” However, Loehner did confirm November 11 as the date that the Village expects the JAC to be completely moved out of the building on Walton Road.
The shelter had been closed since March after the township issued a quarantine for more than 50 health code violations. After a Superior Court judge ruled to temporarily lift the quarantine in early July, the town and the JAC reached a settlement in principle on August 20 in which the JAC agreed to vacate the premises and South Orange agreed to drop all complaints against them.
“As one of the few true no-kill shelters in the area,” Ms. Perlmutter noted, “we have provided homeless dogs and cats with safe haven, food, medical attention, training, socialization and arranged adoptions for more than 8,000 animals.”
“We are saddened that our two partnering communities have now contracted with the Associated Humane of Newark, and many of the animals we could have saved have already been euthanized,” she added.
Loehner responded, “Because the JAC was under quarantine we contracted with Associated Humane for our sheltering needs during these proceedings. The Board of Trustees is looking into a variety of option for the future.”
The village’s contract with Associated Human is attached.
