NEWS
This page will keep you posted on news and happenings at the shelter!

February: Area Veterinary Hospitals Help Shelter Pets by Joining our Pearly Whites Program
Recently we started our "Pearly Whites" program. Since we take all animals regardless of age, we take in many senior pets who come to use with dental problems. We also see dental problems in the pets who come to use from cruelty situations. Our "Pearly Whites" program asks participating vets to do dental work pro bono. Oakhurst Veterinary Hospital, Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, Sea Girt Animal, Marlboro Village Vet Hospital, and most recently Little Silver Animal Hospital have joined our program and among them so far they have helped over 20 shelter pets. Over 90% of the dental procedures these wonderful hospitals have donated were for multiple extractions and serious periodontal disease, saving these pets from pain and discomfort.

We thank all these veterinary hospitals, the vets, vet techs and staff involved in this program. They are making a significant difference in the lives of shelter pets! If you go to one of these hospitals, make sure to thank them for their good work.




February 11, Jake the Greyhound of Asbury Bark is #1!
We are so happy to report that our good friends at Asbury Bark in Asbury Park are proud parents of the #1 Greyhound in the country! This week at Westminster, Jake the Greyhound (shown to the left with Jim, photo by Asbury Park Press photog Tanya Breen)) won Best in Breed, sending him to the Best of the Hound group, where he was beaten by none other than the Best in Show winner himself, Uno the Beagle.

Jim opened Asbury Bark three years ago and has been a supporter of the MCSPCA right from the start. So, get yourself down to Asbury Bark (535 Bangs Ave) - show your support for local business and maybe you will get lucky and meet Westminster's Best Greyhound!


Read the Asbury Park Press story here.



December 21, Aberdeen Man Charged with 25 Counts of Animal Cruelty
Monmouth County SPCA Humane Law Enforcement Chief, Victor “Buddy” Amato, charged Anthony Appolonia, 48, of Aberdeen with 25 counts of indictable animal cruelty. Mr. Appolonia is accused of killing 25 cats he received through answering ads in local newspapers placed by individuals “offering free cats and kittens to good homes”. He admitted to torturing each animal before killing them. Bail has been set at $105,000.

The Monmouth County SPCA strongly urges people NOT to place “free to good home” ads to place pets. Prevent animal cruelty and abuse. Call your local shelter and make an appointment if you must give up your pet(s).

Our Humane Law Enforcement Division has been joined by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office to work on this case- read more here from the Asbury Park Press .



December 2, Santa Paws was great fun as always!
Despite the cold, snow and rain, lots of people with their dogs and cats too weathered the elements and came to Santa Paws. The clinic was transformed to a decorative, festive workshop for Santa; the photo sets were absolutely beautiful; the home baked candies, cookies and pastries were out of this world; the drinks - hot chocolate, water and soda were plentiful and a jolly time was had by all.

There were door prizes, raffle and an auction. The winners were:
* 16 X 20 In Home Portrait Session donated by ShadowLight Photography Raffle won by Bev and Dan Dobrowolski
* Basket of Cat Goodies Door Prize won by Emily Koleski
* Bed of Dog Goodies Door Prize won by Dawn Panzica
* Dog Agility Starter Kit Auction - winning bid by Sandra Szilasi

Special thanks to our sponsors - Jersey Printing in Atlantic Highlands, Breeze Heating and Air Conditioning Co. LLP in Colts Neck and ShadowLight Photography in Keyport and all of our wonderful volunteers for making the event possible!



November 28, Renovation Groundbreaking Ceremony
A fitting beginning to our renovation- shown to the left is Hunter, a MCSPCA alum who had the honor of the "first dig" at our groundbreaking. So many people came to help us celebrate our long-awaited renovation including Eatontown Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo was there (shown to the right with one of our littlest supporters) and we thank everyone for their support. We are looking forward to a very exciting year and we will keep you posted on our renovation page

Read more about the event in these fine publications:
http://www.ahherald.com/content/view/2943/2/http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NEWS01/711290398/1004/
http://www.tworivertimes.com/current/news5.php




October 13, 2007 - Kick Up Your Paws - A benefit held by Becky and Max Weinberg (shown to the right) was a big success! Five hundred people were there, and all had a great time.

Becky and Max had the party to raise funds for our much-needed renovation. Thank you Becky and Max!

Of course, a Very Special Guest (shown to the left with our Executive Director Ursula Goetz and MCSPCA Board President Chris O'Connor), showed up to help raise even more money for the renovation.

It was an amazing evening that raised significant funds for our renovation. HUGE thanks go to everyone who helped make this event so successful.
. Click here for more info and lots of photos.



The winner of the 2008 C Class Mercedes Benz car raffle was announced at the Kick Up Your Paws Event to be Joan Huegel of Ocean NJ, who is a long time shelter volunteer, was the lucky winner. Joan is a foster mom who takes in litters of newborn kittens from the shelter and bottle feeds them until they are old enough to be adopted. It is not unusual for Joan to act as an adoption counselor at the West Long Branch PetsMart store where the kittens are showcased for adoptions. She meets with potential adopters to assist them in choosing their next best friend. Joan is shown to the left with Ursula picking up her new Mercedes. Congratulations Joan!





The Monmouth County SPCA is given a 4 Star Rating for the fourth year in a row!
Charity Navigator is America's premier independent charity evaluator. They help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing in-depth, objective ratings and analysis of the financial health of America's largest charities. Charity Navigator awarded the Monmouth County SPCA four out of a possible four stars. In earning Charity Navigator's highest four star rating, the MCSPCA has demonstrated exceptional financial health, outperforming most of its peers in its efforts to manage and grow its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible. Please click on the logo to review our four star rating.




OCTOBER 6, 2007, MCSPCA Annual DogWalk and Pet Fair - a big success! Once again our annual Dog Walk and Pet Fair was held at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft and it was amazing! We raised more than $106,000! Beautiful weather, almost 90 degrees, hard to believe it was October. More people and their dogs showed up than ever before and found themselves with plenty of room both to walk around and to park. Click here for the full story.




August - SuperFoodTowns collects and enormous amount of donations!
During the month of August, six SuperFoodtowns; Port Monmouth, Wall, Atlantic Highlands, Red Bank, Sea Girt and Ocean, collected donations for us by putting together bags of food from our Wish List valued at $6 and selling them at the counter for $4.99 or 5000 Greenpoints. Danielle Coberg the Customer Relationship Coordinator for Food Circus Super Markets, Inc. coordinates the Community Outreaches and did a drive for the Food Pantry and then one for the MCSPCA. The generosity of the six communities was outstanding! To the right is photo of our van filled to the brim with Pedigree and Friskies pet food, and that's just the Red Bank store alone! Huge thanks go out to all six SuperFoodTowns, and to Danielle for coordinating everything. Thank you!




June 19 - New MCSPCA President of Board of Trustees Elected

Christopher O’Connor (shown with his wife Sabine at a MCSPCA fundraiser) was elected President of the Monmouth County SPCA at its meeting on June 19, 2007. Chris has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2004, serving previously as Treasurer. He is Vice President/Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley, Red Bank. Chris is a graduate of Catholic University, Washington, D.C. and lives in Rumson with his wife, Sabine, three children, Andrew, Nick and Emily and his two dogs: “Rocky” and “Winky.” Congratulations Chris!





June 23 - Gimme Shelter Event was a big success!

The event was such a huge success, resulting in 12 dog houses for needy dogs. About 50 Schoor DePalma volunteers were there along with our MCSPCA volunteers. Most came early and got started right away! Everyone worked together - it was the best team effort our volunteer coordinator has ever seen. Janella worked out all the details of the building part, Karissa was in charge of handing out assignments, Mary Ellen kept track of all the volunteers and registration... Everyone worked together and when they were finished with their job they went over and helped out with somebody else's job. It was wonderful!

The dog house building went really quickly and we actually ran out of supplies.We had to run out and get more nails and shingles. Lowe's came through again and donated more supplies. The manager, Joe, stopped by for 30 minutes to help out too. Thank you Joe!


The event was created in honor of Leo the Lionhearted (click here to read his story). To the left are Leo's mom Barbara, Francesca (MCSPCA Volunteer Coordinator), Janella Pini (MCSPCA volunteer who also works for Schoor DePalma), Charlie Klimas (works for Schoor DePalma and cut all of the plywood for the event) and Buddy Amato (MCSPCA Chief Humane Law Enforcement Officer). As Barbara told us -"Leo is the spokesdog for the need of proper shelter for all dogs. Though I feel and believe all pets should live in the home as a member of the family, those pets who cannot, should have proper shelter. "Gimme Shelter" is an event where dog houses are going to be built and made available to families who cannot afford to purchase proper shelter for their pets. If Leo had proper shelter, perhaps his life could have been very different."

So, Gimme Shelter was conceived, to build dog houses for dogs who need them. Unfortunately, Leo passed away before he could attend this event, but his spirit was there! We received over $200 in donations in memory of Leo. Leo's mom Barbara came to the event with Leo's sister, April (shown to the right trying out one of the new dog houses). Barbara was teary eyed and thanked everyone for all their help.

Thank you to Schoor DePalma, Lowe's, and all the volunteers who took time out of their beautiful SAturday to help. Now, the MCSPCA will be able to give sturdy, well built, weather resistant houses to 12 needy dogs this year. We can't tell you how much we appreciate all the support with this project and we hope to do it again next year. Thank you!



May 5 & 6 2007 - Adoptathon has 12 adoptions!

Thanks to everyone who came out on a beautiful day to help make our Adoptathon a big success. This national event is designed to put pet adoption front and center, and to increase adoptions across the states. Twelve pets, including Amber shown to the left, found their forever homes over the weekend! Congratulations everyone!




We got a lot of help from volunteers from Goldman Sachs. We thank each and every one of them for coming out and helping us with everything from lugging tables around for set up to promoting pets for adoption! Thank you everyone!


 
Besides adoptions, much fundraising was done. Thanks go to Oakhurst Veterinary Hospital, who donated $133 from their raffle, and to our wonderful volunteers who sold baked goods that raised $174 to benefit shelter pets.



We thank everyone for helping make our Cinco de Mayo Adoptathon successful! Gracias!

  








   

All Adoptathon photos taken by Val Craig. Thank you Val!



April 28, 2007: MCSPCA Jewelry Bazaar was a huge success!

On Sat. April 28 the Coalition for MCSPCA Animals held our second annual Jewelry Bazaar in the SPCA’s Spay/Neuter Clinic. We had a wonderful turnout and sales that day came to $7,000. With prior and post sales we expect this year’s total Bazaar to exceed $9,000, all going directly to care for the animals at the Monmouth County SPCA. Thank you to all who came out to support us and to all who so generously donated their jewels to help the animals.

Please note we will be accepting jewelry throughout the year, gearing up for next year’s Bazaar. If you have any questions, please email Ellen.



March 4, 2007: Belmar St. Patrick's Day Parade

Once again, a group of MCSPCA alumni and their parents marched in the Belmar St. Patrick's Day Parade, the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the state of New Jersey. Every year, the day of the parade seems to have terrible weather and this year was no exception with fridget temps, when the day before was beautiful! The event is so much fun for people and pets alike that they all stayed warm. Thank you to (from left to right) Christy with Logan, Jill, her daughters with Ginger and Sparky, Kate with Jack, Paul with Isabelle, and Jennifer for bravingthe temps and showing everyone how wonderful MCSPCA alumni are!

Join Dean's List and help our shelter pets!

Dean Nelson from Dean's Natural Food Markets has started a Customer Loyalty Program that supports our shelter as well as three other local charities. All you have to do is shop!

Dean says: "Raising awareness must not stop with ourselves, but should extend out to our community. With this in mind, I would like to partner with you to help those in need. In an effort to better our community, I have created a customer loyalty program that allows us to lend a hand to local non-profit organizations."

It is easy- first go to one of Dean's stores (in Shrewsbury in the Annie Sez Plaza on 490 Broad Street or at 1119 Rt. 35 in Ocean) and sign up to be on the Dean's List®. You will get a Customer Advantage Club Card, with a "heart" punched in it. Every time you shop, they will scan your card. You will get a "point" for every dollar you spend.

When you reach 250 points, Dean will mail you a $9.00 gift certificate and $1.00 is donated and matched by Dean's. That's $2.00 donated to one of four local non-profit organizations in our community, and we are one of them! The four charities who benefit are MCSPCA, Clean Ocean Action, the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation and The Wellness Community (read more on Dean's website at www.deansnaturalfoodmarket.com.

If you already have a Dean's Customer Advantage card, tell them you want to join Dean's List- they will hole-punch your card with a heart, acknowledging your participation in the Dean's List®.

So- go shopping, buy some very healthy, organic food, and help our shelter pets at the same time! Thank you, and thank you Dean and Loretta Nelson for making a difference in this community.




The Monmouth County SPCA is given a 4 Star Rating for the fourth year in a row!
Charity Navigator is America's premier independent charity evaluator. They help charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing in-depth, objective ratings and analysis of the financial health of America's largest charities. Charity Navigator awarded the Monmouth County SPCA four out of a possible four stars. In earning Charity Navigator's highest four star rating, the MCSPCA has demonstrated exceptional financial health, outperforming most of its peers in its efforts to manage and grow its finances in the most fiscally responsible way possible. Please click on the logo to review our four star rating.






The MCSPCA Supports New Humane Food Label To Improve The Lives Of Farm Animals

Citing growing consumer concerns over the treatment of farm animals, Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC), supported by a coalition of the nation's leading animal welfare and animal protection organizations, including The Monmouth County SPCA, unveiled the "Certified Humane" labeling and certification program. The new "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" label on food products instantly assures consumers that meat, poultry, egg or dairy products come from animals raised at facilities meeting precise, objective, and humane standards for farm animal treatment. The coalition also unveiled a website dedicated to the program at www.certifiedhumane.com.

"The consolidation of the agriculture business and the creation of farms that keep animals in close confinement means too many animals across the country are treated inhumanely," said Adele Douglass, executive director of HFAC. "By purchasing products that carry the 'Certified Humane Raised & Handled' label, consumers will not only be able to buy wholesome meat and dairy products with a clear conscience, but will also send a powerful message to the agriculture industry that the humane care and treatment of farm animals should be a priority.

"The Monmouth County SPCA is proud to support this vital and cutting edge program," said Executive Director, Ursula Goetz. "We applaud the programs rigorous standards and inspection process and genuinely believe this program will better the lives of animals raised for food in the United States today".

According to the USDA, over 8 billion animals are used annually in food production in the United States. To qualify as part of the program and to carry the "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" label on food packaging, producers and processors must meet a rigorous set of Animal Care Standards. A team of veterinarians and animal scientists developed these standards to ensure that producers and processors keep animals in conditions that:

· Offer sufficient space, shelter, and company of same-species animals to limit stress.
· Protect an animal's health by disease prevention.
· Assure good nutrition, including ready access to fresh water and a diet that maintains full health and vigor.

Under the system, added growth hormones are prohibited, and animals are raised on a regular diet of quality feed, free of antibiotics. Producers also must comply with environmental standards. Processors must comply with the American Meat Institute Standards, a higher standard for slaughtering farm animals than the Federal Humane Slaughter Act.

Humane Farm Animal Care, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit charity, conducts regular inspections and administers the "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" program. Participating farmers and ranchers must pass an initial inspection as well as annual re-inspection to remain part of the "Certified Humane Raised & Handled" program by qualified HFAC inspectors who are known in their fields and have expertise education in Animal Science, Veterinary Medicine, or other relevant backgrounds. To further assure compliance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Services verifies the inspection process.

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