JERSEY CITY, HOBOKEN AND BEYOND -- On Wednesday, February. 23, the board of the Liberty Humane Society as well as former and current managers will meet former humane society volunteers in court, according to legal documents. The suit by the volunteers charges LHS with racketeering, extortion, gross mismanagement, misuse of public funds, intimidating critics, and killing adoptable animals.
The suit caps an ongoing dispute that was set off last year when the shelter board resigned after accusing shelter employees of fiscal mismanagement and using a "no-kill" policy that the board said was bankrupting the shelter.
In turn, the LHS has filed a defamation suit against two volunteers. LHS accused them of using a Facebook page to intimidate shelter board members and employees.
A different activist was arrested for the same charge.
The suit against the LHS that will be heard Wednesday seeks to remove board members and other officials and to implement a "humane euthanasia policy." The suit will be heard at 11 a.m. by Judge Thomas Olivieri on the 4th floor of the Brennan Court House on Newark Avenue in Jersey City.
Most of the shelters in Nyc perfrom humane euthanasia because the shelters just can not afford to be a NO Kill shelter. Here in Jersey City and Hoboken, we can not afford to be a No Kill shelter. It is a harsh reality unfortuanately. The No KIll policy has putting a strain on the entire community, not just the shelter.
People want to help but can only do so much. Some people may adopt an animal out of pity and not for the right reasons. These animals will end up in the shelter again, or in another shelter somewhere in NJ. On Liberty Humane's facebook page, they posted an owner who had to return the dog due to landlord issues.
I myself saw a dog, looked like a pitbull, with a leash running loose on Rt 440, as if someone just left him there. He or she looked lost, poor pup. The owner was obviously scared to go to the shelter for whatever reason.
Hopefully the shelter will be granted this right. I'm not happy about it, but Jersey City/Hoboken can not afford to be a No Kill shelter.