2420 Route 57
PO Box 589
Broadway, NJ 08808
An Important Message from Dr. Blease
Dear friends of CSA and animal enthusiasts,
42 years ago I came to this area to practice veterinary medicine. Almost immediately I worked with the SPCA housing pets for them, and shortly thereafter they closed, but I continued my own in house adoptions until 19 years ago (1990)when I founded Common Sense for Animals and our no-kill animal shelter. Although sometimes overcrowded and under financed, we none the less saved thousands of pets that would have been euthanized, left untreated or not returned to their owners. Our organization encompasses 100’s of supporters, volunteers and provides valuable services for schools, nursing homes, pet owners, Animal Control Officers and Townships. We have recently been expanding by leaps and bounds as CSA has been enriched by an additional veterinarian, technology experts, dedicated employees and experienced and dedicated board members. Our new facility is 90% complete and will be capable of housing, caring for, and adopting more animals then we ever have before.
Unfortunately, all of this is now in jeopardy as CSA is suffering at the hands of overzealous State Officials. We have always worked closely with the Warren County Health Department. And in our operations and expansions we have had regular inspections, maintained necessary permits and worked to comply with the requirements of the local and state government. Many local politicians are supporters of CSA, as they see the service we provide to the community, its members and its animals. However, the State Health Department has prohibited us from taking in any pets for CSA. My Animal Hospital is entirely separate from CSA and fortunately is doing well as the hospital now pays most of the bills for CSA as much of CSA’s operating income has ceased. Rumors have gone around that the Animal Hospital is closed and that all the animals have been euthanized. This is not true and I appreciate your help dispelling the rumors.
The State Health Department does NOT like no-kill shelters nor does PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals) but the difference is PETA doesn’t interfere. Throughout previous years we worked with the State Health Department but now they seem to be doing their best to make sure more animals die. The agreements they made last year and what was acceptable then, has now been changed. The State Health Department is doing their best to keep CSA’s No Kill Shelter closed and blaming it on the Warren County Health Department. This is an absolute lie. The problems are originating at the state level and began with the new administration. I have enclosed a newspaper article for your understanding and consideration.
The actions of the state have been asinine. One State inspector says I’m “a bad veterinarian” because I had not removed a cat that had sneezed once in an hour to our isolation room and that I obviously had too many dogs because I didn’t know the name of one of the dogs that had been removed from his indoor kennel to an outside exercise pen. The dog was well tracked, as his picture, name and facts were hanging on his indoor kennel. What really upset me more was when this inspector falsely wrote that the sick animals were not being brought to my attention and that they were not being adequately treated! The technicians, cage cleaners and all others are dedicated to the animals, give them excellent care and bring the slightest medical concern to me personally or to another veterinarian.
Our new dog kennels are state of the art, disease resistant in manufacture and installation. The kennel is heated and ventilated and we have been keeping dogs there for two years. It has public access and we have been locating lost dogs for owners, adopting pets and treating others. The State wanted an additional isolation sick room for cats, so we complied and now have a tiled room with 20 stainless steel cages with its own dishwasher, hot water, heat, and ventilation system. They wanted a dog isolation room separate from what we using, so we complied and had to remove 40 cats, and now we have a separate dog isolation room. The State didn’t like our exercise pens in a shaded tree grove with the dogs on wood chips; so at the State's bequest, we moved the exercise pens out of the shade and onto concrete with canvas coverings on the pens.
We have done everything the State has asked, but now I am afraid it has become both political and a grudge fight. I am asking the State of New Jersey Commissioner of Health to refrain from having Linda Frese, Principal Rabies Control Technician from the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services visit my facilities discussing it or working with other inter department inspectors because we cannot be fairly judged by her and can only be discriminated against by her and her ego trip. On a previous visit Linda Frese barged in without announcement, without presenting I.D. and she entered a quarantine room housing rescued puppies and promptly announced the entire shelter be quarantined. I asked why what was acceptable last year, was no longer acceptable this year, she answered: because she’s “the boss”. When I asked if the previous State inspectors were incompetent, she answered “Yes”. Her attitude and disrespect for the State's and Warren County’s Health inspectors speaks for itself.
There are several ways you can help. Please support CSA. We have a golf outing June 1st and need golfers. Another major fund raiser is our Motorcycle Rally and Food Fest June 28th. Later in the fall we are having a tricky tray and a dog walk and other fund raisers. We are working aggressively to complete the barn, but many supplies are still needed and we are grateful for donations. Please let politicians now that this is an unacceptable way for the state to treat a non-profit organization that has remained a powerful vehicle for animal care and education through its many members and supporters. Please feel free to contact anyone you know or wish to contact. Also, we urge our supporters to call, email or write letters to:
-Commissioner Heather Howard, PO Box 369, Trenton NJ 08625; Heather.Howard@doh.state.nj.us with cc to Karen.Smith@doh.state.nj.us
-Dr Collin Campbell, Infectious and Zoonotic Disease Program, PO BOX 369, Trenton, NJ 08625: phone 609 588-3121, email colin.campbell@doh.state.us
-Governor Corzine PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ o8625; phone 609 292-6000; or go online: www.state.nj.us/governor/about
With your help and support CSA will emerge this political quagmire with our new facility completed and will continue our agenda of education, compassion and service. You have my sincere appreciation.
Robert R. Blease, DVM
Telephone: (908) 859-3060
COMMON SENSE FOR ANIMALS
2420 Route 57
PO Box 589
Broadway, NJ 08808
This is the article that appeared in The Express Times, and I’m really incensed about the State Health Department blaming Warren County . Absolutely untrue! It’s the State that doesn’t care about the strays as well as jobs. Animals and puppies are being sacrificed.
Shelter stops taking strays
Warren County animal shelter is told to halt operations
Common Sense for Animals is cited for numerous violations
Friday, May 15, 2009
By NICK FALSONE
The Express-Times
FRANKLIN TWP. | A no-kill animal shelter in Warren County that has operated for nearly 20 years is overcrowded and needs to be renovated and reinspected before it can accept more animals, health officials said.
The owner of Common Sense for Animals in Franklin Township claims the infractions have been blown out of proportion. He says the forced halt of operations is costing the lives of strays while crippling the ability of county animal control officers to perform their jobs.
Robert Blease, who also runs his veterinary clinic on the same Route 57 property as the shelter, blames the New Jersey Department of Health for unfairly target ing his shelter.
It is Warren County's only shelter with a no-kill policy, and the facility has voluntarily reached be yond county borders to help rescue pets abandoned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
State officials say they've done nothing more than assist in the joint inspection; the matter is a local issue involving the Warren County Health Department.
The county health department acknowledges it's behind the orders to halt operations at Common Sense, but says it is working closely with Blease to get the facility back up and running.
County health officer Claude W. Mitchell said an April 8 county and state inspection led to the closure orders, after revealing incomplete renovations to a barn on the property used to house the animals.
This has left the shelter in "unsatisfactory" condition, he said, adding the barn has poor ventila tion and exposed wires that pose risks to people who visit.
What concerns Blease more than anything else is that his shelter can no longer take in animals as a result of the orders.
It has about 90 cats and 20 dogs that were on the premises prior to the inspection and can remain there.
But now, when additional strays are picked up by local authorities, they have to be taken to shelters that lack a no-kill policy. People who want to surrender animals are left with few options.
"Certainly, puppies have died in the past few weeks," Blease said, referring to the effects of his shelter's closure.
He said quantifying the number of animals that would have been saved is difficult because the shelter doesn't just take in local animals. Since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, shelters in the Northeast such as Common Sense have been taking some of the burden off shelters in the South that are overwhelmed.
Common Sense, Blease said, has in the past brought vanloads of animals up to its shelter.
Blease is critical of the state's involvement in the case, but state Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Marilyn Riley said the state had a limited role.
"I'm told that the locals are the ones who did the 'cease and desist,'" Riley said of the orders. "I'm guessing we thought it was a good idea."
Besides aiding in the inspection, the state sent a letter to Blease laying out violations at the shelter.
According to the April 21 letter, some areas of the facility pose a significant hazard. "Electrical outlets do not have covers," it reads. "One caretaker was witnessed using a spray bottle to clean cat carriers and cages less than one foot from the exposed wiring of one of these outlets."
Many of the violations cited in the letter were related specifically to the condition of the barn where the animals are being housed.
The letter says the barn has a lack of cage space, poor lighting, ill- fitted wallboards with open edges and other problems.
"There was extensive humidity and stagnant, malodorous air present in the kennel at the time of this and previous inspections," the letter says.
Additionally, a fire inspection and a certificate of occupancy for the barn need to be obtained from the proper authorities, according to the letter.
Mitchell, the county health officer, said county and state authorities decided to do the joint inspection after receiving complaints about an outbreak of Parvo, a communicable disease that attacks the digestive systems of dogs.
Blease acknowledged that some animals at the shelter have come down with contagious viruses in the past but said proper steps were always in place to quarantine the animals.
Mitchell said he believes the animals in the shelter are treated fine; he just wants to see Blease get the renovation work done.
He said he understands the work is contingent on volunteerism, but it's been dragging on for too long.
"He just needs help," Mitchell said.
Blease said 85 to 90 percent of the work is done and is hopeful the rest will be complete by the time a follow-up joint inspection is conducted in June.
If not, penalties such as fines could be levied.
Blease is eager to start taking animals in again and frustrated about the holdup.
"There's no reason why we can't be functioning now," Blease said.
Assistant Managing Editor/News Nick Falsone can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at nfalsone@express-times.com.