Beacon Animal Rescue reopened to receiving new dogs and cats this summer after being prohibited from accepting new arrivals by the Cape May County Health Department in March due to unsanitary conditions and other violations.
The shelter had been closed to accepting new dogs and cats since a volunteer, Anna Best, filed complaints saying the dog kennels were not properly cleaned, which could lead to disease. The case was referred to Jeffrey Raively, a senior registered environmental health specialist with the Cape May County Health Department.
The Health Department had received a complaint from Best on Feb. 26, prompting a meeting between Raively and Heather Johnson, the department’s chief registered environmental specialist, and others. The Health Department scheduled a routine inspection, after which it was concluded that some dogs had been adopted out.
Nonetheless, the Health Department issued an “unsatisfactory” rating based on other violations.
According to documents obtained from the county, the Health Department determined that Beacon Animal Rescue could continue to adopt out current animals but was prohibited from accepting new arrivals until the violations were abated and the facility was reinspected.
The shelter regularly receives dogs from southern states where there are no spay/neuter programs and dogs end up in kill shelters.
An inspection conducted on March 14 found violations in at least eight different areas, including a failure to show inspection certification, a need for well water test results, fencing that needed repair, a need for adequate indoor ventilation, wastewater improperly draining, too many or too large dogs sharing an enclosure, lack of an isolation room for contagious illness, dogs not being separated for feeding purposes, dry animal waste in outdoor cage areas and a certification of veterinary supervision form that needed to be submitted.
A result form after a July 30 inspection showed that all of the violations from March 14 “have been abated.” In addition, it said a new septic system had been installed, a certification letter had been received and isolation rooms were created in an outdoor trailer.
“The establishment is approved to reopen normal operations,” the inspection form, bearing Raively’s name, said.
With the approval to reopen, Beacon Animal Rescue was permitted to bring in new dogs and cats, but dogs would be limited to one per kennel. The inspection form said a routine operational inspection would follow at a later date.
Raively had been in contact with Beacon Animal Executive Director Ryan Parker, who had been the target of criticism by Best, in part for, she said, not regularly being onsite to oversee the operation.
Discussion in the March 14 inspection report indicated that the septic system was about 15 years overdue to be replaced, and the shelter had been depending on port-a-potties. The septic system had been pumped two years prior.
Raively said that Parker was in contact with a representative from the state Department of Health and discussed the matter of using the trailer as an isolation unit. Linda Frese, from the state Health Department’s Veterinary Public Health Program, said household crates could not be used to keep animals, and additional kennels needed to be created.
Best had been raising her concern about Beacon Animal Rescue for a number of months, including filing the complaint with the county Health Department in February. She appeared at meetings of the Upper Township Committee and the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners seeking their help in improving conditions at the facility.
Upper Township originally leased the building to the founders of Beacon Animal Rescue for $1 a year, with the intention of helping animals. The Township Committee told Best it did not have oversight of the operation, but was simply the landlord.
The county commissioners likewise told Best last month that they did not have oversight of the shelter and told her she had done the right thing by reaching out to the Health Department.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a corrected version of the original story, clarifying that the shelter had been prohibited from accepting new dogs and cats but had not been closed down after a county Health Department inspection.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.