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December 12th, 2009 | 
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Salem County residents outraged at recent swan killing Sunday, November 08, 2009 By Randall Clark rclark@sjnewsco.com MANNINGTON TWP. – Area residents have organized in protest against the recent killing of 55 mute swans here by order of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. A public outcry began in October when information was uncovered that the state authorized the lethal collection of the majestic birds in order to thin their population and check for the presence of avian flu. In a startling discovery, the Division of Fish and Wildlife exterminated another 112 mute swans in Mannington Meadows last year under similar circumstances, according to data received after these most recent findings were made. No avian flu was detected in any of the species samples. Activists say it is part of a larger plan to eradicate the mute swan completely in order to make way for game birds that hunters will pay the state hefty fees to shoot. “If the public knew what was happening they would be horrified,” said Monmouth County resident Betty Butler, who has been following the issue up and down the eastern seaboard. “They found nothing and they knew ahead of time there would be no connection.” The stately white swans, highlighted by their distinctive orange and black beaks, often move in on domestic waterfowl’s breeding grounds and tear up vegetation that other creatures depend upon, some biologists say. A male can weigh up to 25 pounds and eat six to eight pounds of submerged aquatic vegetation a day, an inconvenience for other waterfowl and invertebrates that subsist on the same plants. But division Assistant Director Larry Herrighty said after the latest depredation that “there are ecological health issues but the main purpose of this is human safety.” No human cases of avian flu have ever been reported in the United States, World Health Organization statistics show. It has been found in some birds, however. Carneys Point resident Lucinda Lewis has developed a Web site, muteswanadvocacy.com, and an online petition calling for an investigation into the state’s depredation plan. About 55 people have signed it thus far. “A very determined and calculated effort has been made to destroy a bird that is appreciated whether or not it is considered native,” Lewis said. “The scientists have used data that most of us have difficulty accessing and given a very one-sided approach. And new information to the contrary is not being considered.” Experts are at odds as to whether or not the mute swan should be considered a native or non-native species to the country, a point which could play a key role in the protection it receives. While commonly held information says that mute swans were first introduced in America in the 1800s as a decorative bird for zoos, parks and private estates, a 2008 academic paper in “Picoides” on the subject shows a watercolor painting of a mute swan from 1585 during Sir Walter Raleigh’s scientific exploration of America. “Picoides” is the bulletin of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists. Fossil remains were also unearthed in four states from the Miocene era onward, according to the paper’s authors, Dr. Robert Alison and Kathryn Stillwell Burton. The Atlantic Flyway Council, which is a partner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recommended in its Atlantic Flyway Mute Swan Management Plan 2003-2013 that “the New Jersey mute swan population objective is 500 swans statewide.” With around 1,250 mute swans counted in New Jersey last year through the Atlantic Flyway Midsummer survey, another 750 would have to be slaughtered during the next four years in order to reach that goal. The Atlantic Flyway Council states that “populations should be particularly reduced in coastal impoundments managed for migrant and wintering waterfowl.” It goes on to say the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s control unit generally receives 10 or fewer complaints annually regarding mute swans. Across the Atlantic Flyway that stretches from Ontario to Florida, the mute swan’s numbers have seen an exponential decline since 2002, dropping from 14,344 to 10,541 in 2008. States like Maryland and Connecticut have documented extensive mute swan massacres. “Humane Society of the United States had a witness to the killings in the Chesapeake (Bay),” according to Burton, who has tried to hold the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accountable in federal court. “The 4,500 swans have been reduced to under 100 and the methods of killing, some were a felony in Maryland. Sacking, beating and cutting the necks with a long handled branch cutter,” according to Burton. Mannington Township Mayor Ernest Tark Jr. said he and other township officials knew nothing of the state’s plans locally. He said last month “they just came in and did it.” “A lot of people come down to see the swans and they are in a lot of the county’s tourism materials,” Tark said previously. Their image also headlines the county government Web site, salemcountynj.gov. Lewis said that on Tuesday she counted approximately 30 swans on the east side of county Route 540 and about 10 others by the bridge on Old Kings Highway. “Why shouldn’t the swans be allowed to eat eight pounds of submerged vegetation a day?” Lewis asked. “In an open and expansive area that has obviously supported them and brought nature lovers to the meadows for generations.” |
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I told them since they mixed them up, and did not allow me to cage them by name; I could not identify each raccoon and know which area they came from. They asked if they had been vaccinated. I told them yes, the veterinarian had all of the records. However, it was not a law that they had to be vaccinated, although all of them were vaccinated for parvo, distemper, and rabies. They took the animals on that Friday the conservation officers positioned the animal carriers facing one another so that each raccoon could see one another, and shot them through the top of the carriers so they could see eachother die. They killed almost all of them. except for 2. The 2 not shot were taken to the Mercer County Center and were there for a few months until the head of the nature center, Diane Nickerson killed them. F&G told the media it was necessary to kill them because they were not vaccinated.
The courts had ordered a test of the raccoons to see if they had been vaccinated as the veterinary records showed, but F&G ordered them we killed before they could be tested. I had been charged with illegal possession and the court went on for 8 years. We eventually won the case. The judge did not see a reason to kill the animals since there were records signed off by the doctor on the vaccinations. The judge saw that it took so long that justice delayed was justice denied. He saw no reason for the complaint in the first place so he dismissed it.
All of those raccoons died for nothing. They were physically and mentally tortured the last hours of their life by our NJ Fish & Game Officers. The memory of what took place that day and the lengthy trial will remain a nightmare I will remember the rest of my life.
Bill Sleight
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I went to my car and picked up the copy of the paperwork I had sent them, and handed it to Lisa. She said,” well, it’s too late.” It was obvious they used this paperwork as an excuse to come to my house. She then got on the radio and said that the area was secure. Then, two trucks pulled up and parked at both ends of the road and all of the men come piling out of the truck from F&G, they went in the house and started netting the animals. The baby raccoons they grabbed with snare poles. They were just little babies; they did not have to do that. Then they went out in the back. They had the Long Branch Animal Control with them, the Long Branch Police, and the health department. They went into the huge walk in cages I have for the raccoons, and started snare poling the animals around the neck. I yelled at them not to do that, their necks are too sensitive for that, you must do it around the waist. The Long Branch Animal Control told conservation officers not to snare them around the neck, it was incorrect. NJ F&G barked back that they were the experts and continued poling them around the neck. The animals were screaming, and the raccoons were reaching their arms out of the cages toward me to help them. (Raccoons are trusting of their caretakers).I moved towards one of the conservation officers on the scene (it was Larry Herrighty’s brother). I wanted them to stop hurting the raccoons. Larry Herrighty’s brother told the other conservation officers to restrain me. The conservation officers jumped me and held guns pointed at my head, then turned to the police officers and barked a command to cuff me. The officers refused to cuff me and requested that the conservation officers remove the guns pointed at my head. The F&G officers relayed to the police that I was a threat. The police officers told the F&G that I was not a threat. They said,” The man has no shirt on or shoes”. I was held under guard for 2 hours in the back of the property. I couldn’t do a thing. When they finally gathered up all of the animals they asked where they all came from. I had named my animals by code to identify the towns where each animal came from, so when released they would go back to the area they came from.
To be continued
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I then spoke to a Verna Gengler, she told me she never heard from me, and didn’t know who I was, but yet I have paperwork from her with her signature on it. I shared this information with her and she stated that she really was not involved with this thing anyway. Later on that day Lisa Trifelli called me up about 3:45 pm , said she heard that I spoke to Larry Herrighty around 10am that morning, and told me that I must now have my physical permit. She said she would like to come up and give it to me. I agreed to it, and then asked her if this was a bust. She said,” no, no, no I wouldn’t do that to you. I just want to come up and inspect your facility, and give you your permit.”
Well, they had already inspected the facility because I had showed it to them, but I agreed anyway. I told them to give me a call to make sure I was there, because I wasn’t living in the house. I was fixing the house up at the time. I had been warned by another rehabilitator not to trust them. Come Friday outright lies were not acceptable. I had a copy of all of the paperwork I had sent to their office. The Fish & Game came to my house with the police and the health department. They asked if I was William Sleight, and I said yes and asked what was going on. I asked if this was a bust, and stated to Lisa Trifelli that she said she was not going to do this. She said,” I lied”. She said that law enforcement was allowed to do that. Being a former police officer I knew that there was something called deception, but outright lies were not acceptable. I had a copy of all the paperwork I had sent to their office.
To be continued
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I then gave the conservation officers my business card from the SPCA, and then they left. This happened on a Friday. On Monday I phoned the F&G office I spoke to a Larry Herrighty. I asked if there was a problem, and Larry said yes there was. He said that I did not return the questionnaire. The questionnaire was in the packet I received and it was only given to rehabilitators. The purpose was to gather information from wildlife rehabilitators so that the state could put together a standardized manual of care, this was asking for input for all of the rehabilitators. I had sent back that information. NJ F&G claimed that they did not get it. Then Herrighty said I was in trouble because I did not have my permit. I told them that I knew they only processed them in March or May, but so long as a rehabilitator having the physical paperwork in hand you were covered, so physically having the permit in your possession was not necessary. Then he said, “Well, there is a conflict of interest.” He said,” you’re with the SPCA.” I asked what was the conflict of interest? Herrighty said, “your statutes and ours.” So I said you mean that you kill them and I save them. Herrighty then said,” Had we known that you were with the SPCA we would have never accepted you in the program and given you a permit.” This clarified to me that I was accepted and issued a permit. There was no question or grey area about it. I assumed that the way they found out I was with the SPCA is because I handed my card to the conservation officers a couple of days before that. I did not realize at the time that they had remembered I was the officer who prosecuted the two police officers who beat the deer to death two years earlier.
To be continued
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I was working with NJ State SPCA as a Law Enforcement Officer in 1992 two Freehold Twp police officers were dispatched to a deer that was hit on the road on t. 537 in Freehold Twp on a Bell Lab property. It was about a quarter of a mile from the road hit by a delivery truck about 4 am. The deer had a broken back from the accident. The police officers took out a bolt cutter and they beat the deer to death. I was called in on the case and prosecuted the police officers on needlessly beating and torturing an animal. I was called by my office to call NJ Fish & Game about the incident. I spoke to a Marty McQue he said that they would appreciate it if I dropped the charges. I refused to drop the charges, I did not work for NJ Fish, Game and Wildlife, I worked for the State SPCA and that these two officers were guilty and I was going to prosecute them. That was the last I heard about it.
About two years later in 1993 I applied to NJ Fish, Game & Wildlife for my rehabilitator’s permit I sent them the application, and then did not receive any notice from them. In March of 1993 I phoned them to ask them what my status was, NJ F&G said that they never received my application, they did not know who I was, nor ever heard of me before. I asked them to send me the application again, they did. I filled it out and sent it back July 1994. I received a packet with all the rules and regulations, and a list of wildlife rehabilitators in the State, and they sent me my $7.00 check back with an explanation that they did not charge for the license, it is free. The check I sent them was by mistake, it was only needed if holding a captive pet, not wildlife rehabilitation. In August of 1994 two NJ Conservation Officers came to my house one was named Lisa Trifelli, they asked if I was William Sleight, and I said I was. The officers said that they were here about raccoons. At the time I had 20 raccoons. I thought that they were bringing me more raccoons, when I found out that they were investigating me, I told them that I had all of the necessary paperwork that I needed. They asked for the permit, and I told them that they had not sent it to me yet, then I showed them the back of the property, the cages and animals, and they responded it was ok. They said they were going to check their records for my information, and realized that they had spelled my name wrong. They spelled it Slate I’m sleight, I explained if they looked they would see that that the paperwork was sent to them, and I had received paperwork from the State. I told them in the paperwork I received, I was sent a directory, and they stated that I must be ok because that directory only gets sent to licensed rehabilitators in case I need to network with them. I was also told police departments may get the directory as a list in case they need to refer to a wildlife rehabilitator, but it is not for the open public.
To be continued
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Court:
We fought the Court to drop the charges as the NJ Fish & Game searched the property before acquiring a search warrant. They didn’t know if they had any evidence to get a search warrant, so they had to look before asking for one. They caging area is 250 feet back from the main road in the woods. There are trees surrounding the caging area. It is not visible from the road and there are no trespassing signs posted around the property. Judge Neustader from Superior Court denied the motion to dismiss because of the “Open Field Doctrine” which was set up for Drug Lords running methane labs. As I understand it, in the western part of the country somewhere there was a 500 acre property with a ranch house. There was also a building in the middle of the property with 5 or 6 fences around it and no trespassing signs.
A fly over was done and suspicion of a methane lab resulted. The fly over was done because the law that went into effect at that time stated that a suspicious structure had to be within naked eye site from a public road. There were no visual accessories allowed to aid in any visual contact. Law enforcement went past the signs and fences and arrested everyone involved with the methane lab.
This law has now been applied to allow trespassing in my case. There was no fly over done by NJ Fish & Game over the caging structure. If they had flown over they would have only seen a roof surrounded by trees, nothing suspicious. The judge’s rule allows them to continue with the unlawful acts that they have been practicing for years.
How does this affect you? This ruling now allows any law enforcement to search without a search warrant any “curtlidge” or building unattached to your main house such as a shed etc. if they felt there is any suspicious behavior. If you fight it they will reference my case and you will lose. This is another violation of every Americans Rights which has been implemented by this ruling.
The first court date after Superior Court was in Egg Harbor Township, and the negotiations went on so long court was postponed; then postponed again. The State Attorney General had a lawyer named John Hill representing their office. He has tried so hard to keep the media out. The Attorney General’s Office does not want the public to know what is going on.
The last court case was heard on February 14, 2006. All witnesses were sent out of the court to avoid everyone hearing each other’s testimony. All of the conservation officers contradicted themselves. All of them made up their reports between November of 2005 to January of 2006. Don Bonica wrote his version on February 10th, 2006. The incident happened October of 2004. Why does it take that long to write a report, and how accurate are they after all that time. They were still legally allowed to submit them in court. Their star witness Jay Beale (the man which starved the cat to death) admitted in court that the notes he was using to testify against me were written by Mike Massey the arresting conservation officer. When we moved for a miss-trial it was denied.
The next court date will be May 2nd in Egg Harbor Township at 9:00am.
I am facing possible imprisonment and $60,000.00 in fines. So is the landlord which with his kind heart allowed me to build the cage on his property. Fines and imprisonment for helping God’s injured creatures. If any money is collected it goes right to NJ Fish & Game directly. They have a 10 million dollar budget with only 7 million coming in. They make most of their money from hunting licenses. That supports their salaries, vehicles, and pensions. Last year they actually tapped into the state tax fund’s “public money”. That money was used to help promote the bear hunt so they could sell more hunting licenses. The people up north didn’t want any hunting in their back yards and are knowledgeable on the fact that black bear don’t harm the public. No one oversees NJ Fish & Game. They are like the IRS and do what they want. The DEP is supposed to have a say over them, but they cannot control them either.
Now you can see the conflict of interest for NJ Fish & Game to oversee animal rehabilitators. It’s all about money, no conservation. In the past decade rehabilitators all over the state have had their animals taken. They were shut down and their animals killed. Out of approximately 100 rehabilitators in this state there are only about 25 left. Some are state appointed and tied in with them. They are the ones who are allowed to keep their permits without harassment.
The conservation officer who mishandled the birds was not a conservation officer. I later found out he is rehabilitator tied in with the State of NJ. Don Bonica from Toms River, NJ. He killed every healthy bird he acquired from my caging area, and the state allows his activities to continue, legally, and licensed by them.
I am hoping that the next court date my preceptor who has many years experience can appear on my behalf. She now has cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy. Her illness may not allow her to appear.
There are many other horror stories of rehabilitators. There is a group which plans to get some of the stories on-line in the next few months.
To learn more on what is happening with the rehabilitators in our state, go to www.AnimalRA.org
Let’s pray that what is morally and legally right triumphs over the immoral, unethical treatment of those who try to suppress and profit off of those who sacrifice themselves to do good on this earth.
And, those who don’t appreciate their neighbors helping others (especially when it has no effect on the neighbor) to learn to mind their own business and tend to their own lives without trying to hurt others.
Please notify your local politicians, Assembly and Senators, and let them know that NJ Fish & Game have a great conflict of interest in imposing any authority on any Animal Rehabilitators in this State.
We continue to help our wildlife within the law’s requirements, as we always have.
They live because of your support!
Please become a supporting Member of the Animal Rehabilitators Alliance and help us help them!
Thank You for your support,
Marybeth Bennett
Animal Rehabilitators Alliance
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Posted in ARA History | 
Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife | 
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Continuing on, the story goes like this:
On Saturday 10/30/04 I was on my way to work at 8:15am (I was working at an Appliance Retailer at this time, I had given up optical for the time being) when I received a cell call from my husband telling me bad news. Mike Massey from NJ Fish & Game had been pounding on the door so hard that my husband thought his knuckles were going through the door. He didn’t want to answer the door with such a hostile person at the front of it, but he did. Massey informed him that Fish & Game knew about the caging area and that there was a problem.
I told my husband that I was on my way to a meeting at work, and would leave briefly after the meeting to take care of any concerns. At 8:45am I received a call from a friend stating that Fish & Game had a search warrant, and was on their way to the property. I immediately left work and headed home to switch cars, and headed to the caging area.
When I arrived there were several game wardens on the property. They had taken the screws out of the front door to enter the cage because they didn’t have a key for the lock I had on the door. As I approached, I saw them chasing the birds through the caging area trying to capture them to transport. I saw a black truck with the back open with cardboard boxes and heard sounds of birds banging to get out. The boxes were small like liquor store boxes, and the large birds could not stand up in them.
I told them they were being too rough with the birds and did not have proper ways to transfer birds and that they would injure them. They should let me get the birds for them. I witnessed a conservation officer holding one of the Red Tail Hawks by its feet like a chicken. The hawk was fighting and the man was trying to control it, and there was blood running down the hawk’s head. As I moved towards the caging area three conservation officers blocked my way with their hands on their guns and told me if I go in there they will cuff me and arrest me. I was mortified. I told them that the birds knew who I was and trusted me and that I could get them without injury. They refused to let me help. I ran around the officers to the left of the cage, I knew if I went into the cage they would arrest me, and I couldn’t leave those precious birds.
I cried for one of the birds I named Lancelot, (Lancelot was a Red Tail Hawk with a blind eye, non releasable, he was a lecture bird) but the officers had taken him out. They would not allow me to see him. I know he could hear me yelling for him.
The officer in the cage yelled at me stating I wasn’t a vet and had no training. I stated I had trained under their trainer Joanne Balliet in Tabernacle NJ, and another rehabilitator that ran a center and who had over 25 years experience. I am knowledgeable on all bird injuries and I know each bird individually. I can tell their progress and accomplishments and know when they can be released. (I was only rehabilitating non-regulated species at this time, the others were transferred at the earliest convenience). He said he was an expert and handled plenty of birds and he knew what he was doing and I didn’t. I continued to tell him to be gentle with the birds, he was brutally grabbing them, mishandling them and injuring them.
The man collecting the birds couldn’t understand what nerve damage was on a bird, which feathers would not stay intact and therefore the bird’s appearance was not perfect. It would never be perfect. This bird would need to be zoo placed. He then proceeded to contain a vulture. The bird was high up with its talons in the mesh screen on top of the smaller cage built inside to separate species. The man I thought was a conservation officer tried to jump up and grab its tail to pull it down. I screamed “Don’t you grab its tail to pull it down, you will break its back, never handle a bird like that.” He looked at me nastily, and told his partner to get a net. They netted the birds head and part of the shoulders (it was a large bird) and then they pushed him off of the side of the cage. As the bird fell it flailed trying to stop itself from falling, then this man thrust his shoulder into the bird’s wing slamming it to a wooden post. I was surprised the bird’s wing didn’t break. I continued to scream, “You’re going to break its wing stop being so brutal, you don’t know what you’re doing.” The entire time I was crying, it was the worst feeling being helpless. I watched the birds trying to flee in terror, looking at me for help and I couldn’t.
My husband arrived in the middle of the vulture endeavor. It was very upsetting for him to watch this happen to me. He understood my dedication to the birds, and knew the helplessness I felt in being forced to watch them violently contain the birds. The idea of what they were going to do to them once they had them was overwhelming.
I was asked for my ID and read my Miranda rights. I asked where they were taking them, and they stated Don Bonica in Toms River. He was a rehabilitator that was tied in with the state. I told them I knew for a fact he took passerines (small birds like robins, blue jays, etc) and fed them to his raptors, and that he would kill all of the birds, and then make up some excuse of how they died or why he had to kill them.
One of the conservation officers assure me that none of the hawks would be killed, possibly only the smaller birds which he thought were not important. I asked where Mr. Messy was, he was a lecture bird for educational purposes for children and adults. The bird was a handicapped crow, the children loved seeing him, not only did it teach them about a species they could recognize on a daily basis, but it taught a lesson of being handicapped, and that was all part of life. They accepted, and loved Mr. Messy. They officer told me I couldn’t have a lecture bird (I had a special permit for education for him which the state refused to renew along with my State Permit). The officer also told me that the handicapped bird had no right to live and would be put down.
I tried to phone my lawyer at the property, but did not get through, I could only leave a message. He probably couldn’t understand me after all of that crying anyway.
After my Miranda Rights were read they told me I had to sign the paper on which he read me my rights. I refused. He again told me I had to sign it, I told him I didn’t have to sign anything and would not! Then the officer told me to step over to him and explain to him the situation. I said, “What situation?” He said, “What this is all about, you need to tell me about it.” I said, “I don’t have to tell you anything, I have done nothing wrong, and I’m not talking to you.” He said condescending, “So are you exercising your right?” I said, “You’re damn straight.” He said, “What do you have to say?” I said, “Nothing!”. He said, “So, you’re going to remain silent.” I said, “Yup!”
The owner of the property showed up and spoke to one of the conservation officers and asked their rank and who they were. He and my husband were asking questions on how Fish & Game would take care of the birds now. Would they drive injured wild birds to rehabilitation centers since there was no one in our area? He said no. When asked what to do with the injured animals I was told to leave them out to die. What a great lesson to teach our children.
The officer also expressed his opinion of how they refuse to help Seagulls. He felt as though there were too many and they were not important. Little does this nonintellectual conservation officer realize that all types of Gulls are important. They are part of God’s cleanup crew, along with vultures and other scavengers. What does he think our beaches would look like without them? Every creature on this earth has its place and function ecologically on this planet. Without these animals we wouldn’t be able to survive on this planet. When they are all gone, we will be next.
We’re going to be wrapping up this story in my next post … hopefully you can see the importance of me getting this story out to people everywhere!
Check back in a couple days for the conclusion!
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Posted in ARA History |
Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife |
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I had closed my Optical Store and started working for an optical management company, which sent me to Towson Maryland for 6 weeks to open a new store location.
I was home only on Sundays and had absolutely no contact with Jay Beale. I had volunteers check the birds and continue the work while I was away. Volunteers were suspicious that Jay was not caring for the birds as he agreed. The water was old and food was low. Volunteers had to keep up and continually replace water and food. Booby traps such as raking or string were draped over doors and feeding bins to see if it had been disturbed by Jay.
The fact was Jay was only doing his promised job every 2-3 days. When I finished from Towson I contacted Jay from my cell phone on the way to the bird property. I told him the findings and I was on my way to pick up the key and any supplies he had and to leave them on the front step of the house. ETA was 10 minutes. I had done this quickly so that the key could not be duplicated and have any possibility of intentionally injuring any birds. I suspected him not of just being irresponsible but having a bad temper as I had witnessed him screaming at his outside dogs on the property constantly. This is why I had volunteers double check the caging area while I was away.
Other problems developed such as Jay continually turning off the water to the caging area. It was an ongoing battle. I constantly had to go to the house’s outside faucet and turn it back on until one day he turned it off from inside the house. I phoned the landlord and he had Jay turn it on again. Jay’s excuse was that it was cold outside, and the water could freeze. It was 75 degrees outside, no need to turn off the water due to cold.
I continued not having contact with Jay, and only noticed his vehicle at the house so I would know when he was home to avoid him. Later on I learned Jay had been helping Beacon Animal Rescue care for some animals. Once in particular was a cat. Jay deliberately avoiding allowing one of the girls from the rescue to collect this cat. He would leave the house when she was to come get the cat, and leave doors locked when he said he would leave them open for her to retrieve the cat. I later learned that he starved the cat to death by locking it in a room and not giving it food and water. SPCA brought him up on animal cruelty charges as he admitted to the SPCA that he starved it, and that he called NJ State Fish & Game on myself and the landlord about the birds.
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Posted in ARA History |
Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife |
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Continuing on ….
I started this project to build the caging area in 2001. I still had my State permit to rehabilitate wild birds. The construction lead into the following year on which I had a Federal Permit that the State of NJ signed off on which was food thru 12/31/02. The permit was to rehabilitate wild injured birds.
The State of NJ would not renew the State permit which expired 12/31/01. Their excuse was I never trained under their program to receive it, and then the excuses changed as time went on. The person which denied my State Permit was Steve Toth. (Head Biologist). Steve had 2 exterminating companies in North Jersey. He would provide a service in which towns phone him and ask him to exterminate geese, deer, etc. pretty much anything. Since he was one of the heads in NJ Fish & Game he could approve the destruction of the animals. He would send one of his companies out to do the job. It cost the towns thousands of dollars. If the town insisted on another company for the job, Steve’s company was to receive a percentage as a “finder’s fee”.
One of the jobs called for the destruction of about 30 Canadian Geese. The animal rehabilitators up north heard of the problem and went to the area where the geese were captured and moved them to a new location. Their hard efforts paid off. Steve lost over $10,000.00 on that job, since there were no more geese to kill on that contract. He never did like animal rehabilitators. Since that time he has been investigated by the SCI (NJ State Commission of Investigation). He switched the ownership of the companies to his wife’s name. He was never charged with anything but interestingly enough he was forced to retire, and is now collecting his complete pension.
It took approximately 6 months to build the caging area after work weekends and evenings. It cost approximately $4,000.00. The renter of the house in front of the 9 acre property wanted to help with the birds because part of what was offered to him by the landlord was reduced rent for his efforts in helping care for the birds. Half the caging was used for pigeons, the other half was used for any birds which needed to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility.
The law states any good Samaritan has “a reasonable amount of time to get the birds out of their possession.” Birds came in from all over and were constantly moved in and out. Calls from local Law Enforcement, Veterinarians, Animal Control, the public, etc. kept me very busy. The caging was completed Easter Sunday of 2002. Work was very demanding and took too much of my time. So at this time, although my Federal Permit was in effect, I chose to transfer injured wild birds to other rehabilitation facilities; there was one in Newark Delaware, and Raptor Trust in Millington NJ.
I’ll continue on with the story shortly so check back in a few days!
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Posted in ARA History |
Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife |
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