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New Jersey SPCA to appeal verdict limiting autonomy
TRENTON––New Jersey SPCA spokesperson Matt Stanton has indicated
that the NJ/SPCA will appeal to the state Supreme Court an April 14, 2005
ruling by the New Jersey Court of Appeals that significantly erodes NJ/SPCA
authority.
Although the NJ/SPCA was created by state law in 1868 as an autonomous
police force, able to pursue animal abuse cases without county oversight,
the justices held that it lost that autonomy under the Criminal Justice
Act of 1970, which consolidated all police activities under the authority
of the state attorney general and county prosecutors.
“The ruling leaves the NJ/SPCA as the lead agency in investigating
animal abuse,” wrote Brian T. Murray of the Newark Star-Ledger,
“but it gives each county prosecutor the authority to oversee and
guide procedures and policies. “
As of May 2001, the New Jersey SPCA had 18 chartered chapters, at least
on paper, each with constabulary law enforcement authority. A review of
alleged abuses conducted by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation
found, however, that “The SPCAs at both the statewide and county
level have been subverted to the point where in many instances they are
incapable of fulfilling their primary statutory mission––the
effective and reliable enforcement of animal cruelty laws.
“The issue is no longer whether or how to fix this errant group
of self-appointed, self-directed and uncontrolled entities, “ the
Commission of Investigation concluded, “but whether to eliminate
the archaic system entirely.”
A state Animal Welfare Task Force appointed in February 2003 by former
Governor James E. McGreevey recommended removing the SPCAs from the lead
role in humane law enforcement.
Striving to recover credibility, the New Jersey SPCA itself in June 2004
revoked the charters of four purportedly dysfunctional chapters.
