A humane strategy for Belleville's stray cats proposed

Volunteers from Belleville rescued a litter of kittens from underneath a garbage container just over the township line in Newark last October.

Members of a Belleville-based nonprofit, R & M Rockin’ Rescues, had become worried for the litter’s safety as winter set in, noted Marti Wheat, a co-founder of R & M Rockin’ Rescues.

“We got Cindy and Jan first, then we got Marsha,” Wheat said on Friday, Jan. 19. “It was all during the time the weather started getting really cold, so we were in a panic to get them.”

Yes, they named the kittens are named after the cast of characters in “The Brady Bunch.” Cindy and Jan suffered eye infections, which have been successfully treated, Wheat said.

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“All of the kittens were so infested with fleas that they were probably just a matter of days from dying,” she said. “Fleas can actually suck the life out of a kitten”

The rescue of the Brady kittens is one of the R & M Rockin’ Rescues' many success stories, and now the nonprofit is joining local residents to obtain the Township Council’s support of a program for the nonlethal control of stray cats.

Citing the animal control program in nearby Kearny as an example of what the Belleville council can enact, the activists said a better program for animal control could free Belleville from using a shelter in neighboring Newark.

Belleville Township Manager Mauro Tucci said the municipality may sever its ties with the shelter in Newark.

The activists' proposal would formalize their existing program of trap, neuter and release for the township’s stray cats. Similar programs have been enacted in Bloomfield and Montclair, among other New Jersey towns.

The push for humane cat control in Belleville, which drew a full house at the Township Council’s session on Tuesday, Jan. 9, follows a spell of frigid weather this winter.

“With the cold these past couple of weeks, with the freezing cold, there are animals that are freezing to death,” Wheat said.

In neighboring Bloomfield earlier this month, animal control officers picked up a cat left freezing on a field.

Belleville officials warned that people leaving pets outdoors in freezing temperatures face fines.

Wheat cited an incident from several weeks ago in Belleville during which one of the nonprofit’s members was struck by a BB while attempting a rescue.

“We do trap, neuter and release, and one of our members was shot by someone with a BB gun down on Broadway,” she said. “People, understand that we are trying to do a good thing to help.”

If the municipality sanctioned her group’s work, she said, then residents might be more amenable to the rescue group’s work.

Belleville police had no immediate knowledge of the BB-gun shooting on Broadway.

Police said the most frequent animal-related violations involve people with dogs.

“The only ordinance violation we usually issue for animals is for a dog at large, and I usually read all the animal reports pretty [thoroughly] because I’m an animal guy,” said Sgt. John Giacobbe.

On Friday, Jan. 19, Councilman Vincent Cozzarelli told NorthJersey.com he anticipates a formal measure for better control of stray felines will be on the agenda for the Township Council’s next meeting to be held in on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

Robin Caputo, the other co-founder of R & M Rockin’ Rescues, said that with the formalization of a trap, neuter, and release program, Belleville could get grant funding for the control of stray cats.

“The moms and dads don’t’ want to do anything with people,” said Caputo, referring to adult felines.

The move for humane cat control comes as the municipality reevaluates its animal control services, for which it pays the City of Newark via a shared-services agreement.

Animal Control Officer Tom Circle at the Humane Society of Newark said the shelter has killed animals due to lack of space, but that is not a key tenet of its practice.

“We don’t do it for the heck of it,” Circle told NorthJersey.com. “Unfortunately, sometimes we run out of space, but that is rare.”

The preferred practice at the shelter, which holds about 250 dogs and 150 cats, is to move the animals to other shelters, as Circle said he did on Thursday, Jan. 18.

"We only put them down if they’re really vicious or really sick,” Circle said.

Email: kadosh@northjersey.com