REFORM Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter

Background

 

Helmetta Regional Animal Shelter (HRAS) is a tax-payer funded shelter located in Helmetta, NJ, a tiny town with a population of approximately 2,000, in Middlesex County. Despite Helmetta’s small size, their shelter provides animal control and impound services for 21 towns through Middlesex and Monmouth counties. Services that Mayor Martin refers to as “100% pure profit” for the town.

 

The annual inspection reports show consecutive violations, year after year, ranging from disease control protocol to method of euthanasia and lack of record keeping, just to name a few.  Dogs are being imported into our state without health certificates. The shelter does not require adopted pets to be spayed or neutered. Why would they? Unaltered pets means job security in the long term!

 

Simple inquiries about animals and issues with the shelter are deleted from HRAS's Facebook page, with many people even being banned from contributing to the site. In person, legitimate questions and suggestions are ignored, laughed at or met with contempt. The shelter does not advocate for stray pets. Volunteers are mocked, yelled at for trying to provide adequate care for the animals, or are flatly turned away. Concerned taxpayers have brought their concerns to the shelter management, to the town council, and to the mayor. Temporary fixes or lip service are the only results, if any.

 

The shelter promotes itself to be 'low-kill'. However, from volunteer, adopter, and employee reports, many healthy, adoptable animals simply 'disappear'; euthanized  because they are no longer wanted inventory. Foster and rescue groups, which could pull adoptable animals from the shelter to make room for more pets in need, are routinely turned away.