Trapped Cats

Update — NO ATTORNEY,  NEW TRIAL DATE

UPDATE AS OF SEPT 8:  ATTORNEY OREN LEIB NO LONGER REPRESENTING JEN SMITH. Oren Leib announced on 8/11/08 that he was closing his private practice, accepting a new job, and would be unable to represent us. FFRV and Jen Smith cannot financially afford to pay for daily fines that may be imposed by Brooklawn should this case be dismissed.

We do NOT have open foster home space for these animals, nor do local rescues or animal shelters: There is no safe place for these animals to go!

FFRV is in need of an attorney, as well as funding to pay for one (we had counted on Mr. Leib and his pro-bono services). A new court date is 12/10/08.

Category: Court Updates, Uncategorized | No Comments »

At today’s Motion Hearing, Judge Orlando ruled that there are triable issues with respect to whether Brooklawn’s Pet Limit Ordinance is arbitrary and capricious.   As of now, the new court date  regarding the ordinance is September 9, 2008.  Note that the Judge did strike down our claim that the Brooklawn Pet Limit was unconstitutional.  Furrever Friends is considering an appeal with respect to the constitutional issue.

Category: Court Updates | 1 Comment »

Yes friends, the court system has once again changed the date of our Summary Motion Hearing. This is the Motion Hearing that could determine the fate of Pet Limit Laws in Brooklawn…and the State of NJ.

ALL ARE INVITED and ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND!

Witnesses do NOT need to appear at the Summary Judgment Motion, however, we would like to pack the Court Room with friends and supporters.

Friday, June 20, 2008 at 9:00

Hall of Justice, Camden, 6th Floor

*Note that due to many date changes, please check our hotline the night before to make SURE the case is still being heard!

HOTLINE NUMBER: 856-845-8554

Category: Court Updates | No Comments »

MOTION HEARING could determine the fate of Pet Limit Laws in Brooklawn…and the State of NJ.

ALL ARE INVITED and ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND!

Thurs, June 6, 2008 at 9am

Hall of Justice, Camden, 6th Floor

*Note that due to many date changes, please check our hotline the night before to make SURE the case is still being heard!

HOTLINE NUMBER: 856-845-8554

Category: Court Updates | No Comments »

It seems that once more our court date will be changing. The trial date is NO LONGER APRIL 16th, but is now in the pending process. Due to a crucial witness for Brooklawn being out of the country on vacation we are now waiting to here when another day for the trial can be and, as frustrating as can be, this is the THIRD time the court date has changed!

Please know that we will let you know as soon as we do what the new date is supposed to be.

Category: Court Updates | 5 Comments »

PRESS RELEASE 3/13/08

LOCAL PET LIMIT LAWS CAN FORCE PET OWNERS TO GIVE UP PETS!

LANDMARK SUPERIOR COURT CASE APRIL 16, 2008
TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF ANIMAL CARETAKERS

If you were discovered to have more pets then your town deemed acceptable…which cat or dog would you choose to euthanize or send off to a kill shelter?

On April 16th, Furrever Friends (FFRV) Volunteer Jennifer Smith, with support from the local animal welfare community, will be going to NJ Superior court to argue that pet limit laws are unconstitutional. An outcome in her favor would be a victory for the rights of every pet guardian and every animal rescue in NJ. This is the first time such a case will be heard in NJ.

Representatives from the Camden County Animal Shelter, Animal Welfare Association, Hearts & Paws and LBM Animal Abuse Awareness Fund have already met with Ms. Smith, Council Oren Leib, Esq and expert witness Dr. Steven Milden to prepare for trial.

Pet Limit Laws – which vary from town to town – are usually established as an easy, inexpensive way to accomplish animal control. However, evidence shows that Pet Limits Laws are counterproductive by ignoring the core issue of animal overpopulation. Such limits also prevent responsible guardians from adopting another pet and volunteers from fostering for rescue groups. Education, low-cost spay/neuter programs, and enforced nuisance laws are proven approaches to impede hoarders, abusers and inconsiderate neighbors. But, many municipalities hide behind pet limit laws as a method of animal control instead.

Since the summer of 2006, the Borough of Brooklawn has been threatening to force Jennifer Smith, FFRV Board Member, to shut down her FFRV foster home for homeless animals. The cats and dogs, which rotate in and out of the home as they are adopted and rescued, bring her over the town’s “pet limit” of three. The town would not succumb to attempted negotiations, and as a result Smith was forced to file the case with Superior Court or discontinue her rescue volunteer work. Although Brooklawn has made it clear that they do not want Smith operating a foster home in their town, the borough hall and even council members themselves continue to refer citizens to FFRV that need help with local strays.

The financial constraints of the trial, as well as the need to keep other foster spaces open in case Smith’s rescued cats and dogs are ordered to be removed, has forced this all-volunteer rescue to close intake. For now, the volunteer rescuers will concentrate on gaining financial and moral support statewide, and – of course – work on adopting the foster animals currently in their program.

PHOTO and INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

FFRV.PETFINDER.ORG

Category: Court Updates | No Comments »

APRIL 16th COURT DATE ANNOUNCED

PLEASE forward this information to ALL PET LOVERS in New Jersey!

Pet Limit Laws Threaten Pet Owners Rights and Animal Rescue Operations
SUPPORT US!
“Pet Limit Laws are Unconstitutional”

This is a landmark court case and it is CRITICAL we win to protect responsible pet guardians and animal rescuers!!

• WHO: Jennifer Smith vs. Brooklawn
• WHAT: Pet Limit Laws are Unconstitutional
• WHERE: Hall of Justice, 6th Floor, Camden, NJ, Jude Orlando’s Court Room
• WHEN: Wed, April 16th, 10am
• HOW: Dress Neatly…and…Wear PINK to show your support of Smith OR anything promoting your favorite animal welfare organization

Directions to the Court House:

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directions/camdirect.htm

Parking: Lots near the court house cost about $9. Many may opt to take the PATCO High Speed Line, which will drop you off just two blocks from the Hall of Justice.

Letters of SUPPORT can be sent to your local newspaper, as well as:

• Courier Post = tpaolino@courierpostonline.com
• Gloucester County Times = jbarna@sjnewsco.com
• Cleary’s Notebook = BillGCN@verizon.net
• Philadelphia Inquirer = sjletters@phillynews.com or Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com
• Gloucester City News = gcneditor@verizon.net

Category: Court Updates | 3 Comments »

From cat adopters to feral caretakers, a veterinarian and local shelter employees, head of well established local rescues and those who constantly help animals through low cost spay/neuter programs and the head of one of the best communication networks in the Tri-State area … all walks of animal lovers came together today in order to discuss drawing more attention to and making people understand just HOW much we are ALL affected by pet limit laws and WHY they are UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Thank you greatly to those that attended and I hope you’re making your calls. For those interested in helping out (time, money or even contacts are a BIG help), please let us know ASAP. You can check out our official Petfinder website ( ffrv.petfinder.org ) or contact us by phone: 856-845-8554

Sincerely,
The dedicated volunteers of Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers, Inc.

——————-

Photo:

Jennifer Smith (left) and FFRV President Jen Wesh (right) listen as Attorney Oren Leib briefs the attendees on the specifics of the March 11 court trial. Jennifer Smith owns the foster home that is being threatened by the Borough of Brooklawn.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Our fight is your fight too.

Everyone involved in any type of animal rescue knows that foster homes are the backbone of the system. Large private and municipal shelters utilize foster homes to house both overflow and special need animals. Small rescues across the state depend on their foster home network to intake, heal, socialize and eventually adopt out their rescues.

What would you do?

Take a moment to think about it. What would your rescue do if your municipality arbitrarily decided to use existing pet limit laws to shut down your foster network?

It happened to us.   It could happen to you.

Local ordinances are black and white. A home is either a private home subject to existing pet limit laws or a commercial kennel requiring licensing. There is no in between. Most local pet limit ordinances have NO provision for the foster homes that work so hard to keep animals out of the shelter system by temporarily housing rescue pets.

What is Furrever Friends doing?

We are fighting the antiquated laws. No, we don’t have the money, but we have the will to fight for what is right. As a small, all volunteer rescue dependent on donations, every dollar matters.

It pains us greatly to know that every dollar spent on court costs is a dollar we could have spent giving a throw-away pet a new home or saving a litter of kittens from a life out in the cold.

What can you do?

Show your support by attending our rally, wearing our buttons and doing what you can to get the word out that foster homes in New Jersey are under fire. Write a letter to your local newspaper, post in online forums, comment about our case in your blog.

Buy a button:
Show your support by donating $5 (using the PayPal link) and we will send you 2 buttons that show you care about changing the laws and saving foster homes. The buttons are about 2 inches and look like this:

Wear one and give one to a friend. Please make sure your address is somewhere in the paypal form so we can mail the buttons to you!

Attend our rally (this is important):

• Host: Jen Wesh, President, Furrever Friends
• Location: Mullica Hill Library
• 389 Wolfert Station Road, Mullica Hill, NJ NJ 08062 US
• When: Saturday, February 23, 1:00PM

More information about the rally and directions:

Rally Evite Page

Remember:

Our fight is your fight too.

Watch this site and our main page at FFRV.petfinder.org for updates.

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

ANNOUNCEMENT: Furrever Friends Shutting Down For Now Due To Brooklawn, NJ

To Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers’ dedicated volunteers, supporters and the community,

It is with a torn heart that I am writing to inform you that Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers is shutting down ALL our rescue efforts until further notice. We have often briefly closed when, like many rescues, we are filled to capacity. This is not the case now though.

Furrever Friends Rescue is closing at this time due to the fact we have been fighting the aggressive efforts of the Boro of Brooklawn to shut down one of our foster homes in their town. The town has refused to work with our volunteer foster, Ms. Smith, and instead has fined her under their “pet limit ordinance”.

We have stayed open up until now while we tried to reason with Brooklawn about the importance of animal rescuing and the crucial part foster homes play in it. However even after attempts to work with the town and with a pending trial in Superior Court, Brooklawn has continued their harassing tactics.

This letter is to express our frustration, notify you of our current intentions and hope that you will support us in this trying time. Currently we are paying our lawyer to put in a “stay” in an effort to make sure that the Boro of Brooklawn cannot send daily fines to Ms. Smith until our trial in March. Obviously, our money is going to these court efforts. Though it hurts us to be directing our donated funds (yes, it’s 100% donations) into the legal system instead of the animals themselves, it is necessary. The fact is, our foster, Ms. Smith, should certainly not be harassed by Brooklawn with fines when rescue work is such an asset and our foster home there is too crucial to the animals they help for Furrever Friends to simply wave a white flag by moving out all her foster pets, the only reason Ms. Smith is over the limit to begin with. With this effort, we are trying to protect ALL foster homes and animal caretakers that may be in a similar situation.

For the full story, see our website at
FFRV.PETFINDER.ORG or WWW.TRAPPEDCATS.COM

Sincerely,
Jen Wesh

Sincerely,
Jennifer Wesh
Founder/Chairwoman of Furrever Friends Rescue & Volunteers ( ffrv.petfinder.org )

“I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs … [They] are an obligation out on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.” -James Herriot

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »