COURT HOUSE – First District State Senate candidate Dave DeWeese and his Assembly running mates Sam Fiocchi and Suzanne Walters called on Governor Christie not to sign into law the Van Drew Quick-Kill Animal Bill. Sponsored by Democratic State Senator Jeff Van Drew, the bill would create a loophole in the law that would allow the immediate destruction of shelter animals.
“Right now there is a seven day hold before an animal brought into a shelter can be put to sleep,” said Dave DeWeese. “That seven day period has led to the recovery of many lost animals by their owners and also to the return to health of many dogs and cats that would otherwise have been killed. Jeff Van Drew should have listened to the experts instead of twice drafting legislation to create a quick-kill loophole in the law that would allow animals to be killed for almost any reason. That is not the standard our shelters want and not the standard we should set as a community.”
Sam Fiocchi added, “We understand there may be times when an animal is so injured it makes sense to immediately euthanize them. But Van Drew’s quick-kill bill would allow this for the vague reasons of ‘age, health or behavior’ with no input from a veterinarian required. This can only lead to the inhumane killing of animals for convenience instead of necessity. We can do better. We don’t want our shelters simply becoming automatic euthanasia warehouses.”
“I was saddened to learn of the Van Drew quick-kill bill,” said Suzanne Walters. “While it may be expedient to just kill and discard animals that we might feel are old or acting strangely or not as healthy as we might like, it is wrong. I met a dog named Sugar at the Cape May County shelter. Sugar was nearly dead when brought in. She was nursed back to health and gave love and companionship to the shelter workers for many months before she died of natural causes. The quick-kill bill would have robbed Sugar and the staff at the shelter of that time together.”
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
