BY PAT SUMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Waiting for the trial on Monday could have been a trial in itself – it started almost 3½ hours late – but the large room in Manalapan Municipal Court was well-populated with animal welfare people willing to wait. Many wore buttons that showed a cat and read, “She (or He) had no chance.”
They were supporting plaintiff Stuart Goldman’s case against three NJ animal control officers (ACOs) and a health officer (the person to whom ACOs typically report), accused of having cats killed before the seven-day holding period required by law.
Animals impounded in NJ must be kept for seven days to give opportunity for rabies disease surveillance and for owners to reclaim them, according to NJSA 4:19-15.16. Instead, Goldman argued, the three ACO-defendants, all employed by Manalapan Township, had regularly procured the killing of cats without regard to the seven-day hold period.
