During the month of July the Garden State Cat Club puts on their annual cat show/expo at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, NJ. This year, Catster Kyande Kisu was selected to appear on a billboard purrmoting the event.
The Expo is designed to educate the cat owning public about cats, cat care, new products and training, while assisting area shelters with its Adopt-A-Cat program. The event is complemented by the club’s annual cat show.
It’s one of the top five cat shows held in the United States, it is the largest in the Northeast.
The Garden State Cat Club believes their activities will draw the general public to the CAT EXPO as well as inform and educate them about the world of cats. Over a two day period, between 2,500- 5,000 people attend the show.
This year for additional advertising, members were asked to submit photos of their cats to promote the expo. The photos were reviewed by graphic artists from Clear Channel Broadcasting, and several cats were chosen to be pictured on billboards in New Jersey.
One of the selected cats was Kyande Kisu, a one-year old female Japanese Bobtail from Vernon, NJ, who is registered with the Cat Fanciers Association. Kyande Kisu’s registered name is Kiddlyn’s Kyande Kisu (Kisu, translated from the Japanese, means “kiss”) and is a “Premier” trying to obtain her goal of “Grand Premier.”
The billboard advertisement was on display in mid-July to promote the show which was held on July 18th & 19th. The billboard is located on Route 287 in Plainfield, NJ.
Kisu’s mom was thrilled about being selected, and said, “This is something we will never forget. We are so honored.”
In an effort to save the lives of unsocialized outdoor cats, the Cape May County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center and the Animal Alliance of Cape May County (AACMC) in New Jersey have created the Barn Buddy program, aimed at locating people who have room in their barns, compassion in their hearts, and a willingness to give a cat a chance at a new life.
Barn Buddy cats are spayed or neutered, receive rabies and distemper vaccines, are Feline Leukemia and FIV tested and are ear-tipped for easy identification. Ear tipping is a painless procedure in which a small notch is cut into the ear indicating that the animal has been spayed or neutered. The AACMC absorbs all fees associated with the cats in exchange for an agreement to continue long-term care, feeding and shelter for the cat.
Shelter Manager Judy Davies-Dunhour explained, “Cats chosen for the program will be moderately socialized to people, yet would not be happy living inside a house. Up to this point, they have been living outside. They will keep watch over your barn, your warehouse, your business, wherever they’re needed and they work for room and board.”
Sheriff Gary Schaffer supports the program adding, “Most of the cats at the Shelter arrive here when they are brought in by Animal Control. While some of these cats are friendly and can easily make a transition to becoming house pets, others are less socialized. These are the cats we’re trying to save. Although they may not want to sit on your lap, they deserve to live out their lives, and can make excellent mousers,” Davies-Dunhour said.
For more information, contact the Shelter at 609-465-8923, or the Animal Alliance of Cape May County at 609-465-NEUT.
The Cape May County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center Shelter is located at 110 Shelter Road, Cape May Court House, off Exit 11 of the Garden State Parkway. The Shelter is open daily, except legal holidays.
[LINK: Shore News Today. TOP PHOTO: Alley Cats and Angels]
Last month we shared the story of Daisy, an indoor-only tabby who was picked up by Animal Control officers Aaron Jordan and John Marsh Jr. in Jersey City, and dumped in a local park rather than delivered to a shelter. Daisy survived a snowstorm and was eventually reunited with her owner, Morgan Metius.
Joe Frank, who supervises Jordan and Marsh, has looked in to the matter, but feels it was an isolated incident, as you can see in this video investigation by Fox 5’s Arnold Diaz:
Sounds like the fox is guarding the henhouse. Thus far, neither Jordan nor Marsh has been fired or charged with animal cruelty.
In the wake of the Daisy incident, Companion Animal Trust, a group of animal activists, caught 21 cats in Lincoln Park. Of those, 13 were spayed/neutered and returned to the park, and eight were put up for adoption at Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, N.J.
If you’d like to ensure that this incident is properly investigated and Aaron Jordan and John Marsh Jr. are brought to justice, you can contact Mayor Jarramiah Healy and Councilman Steve Fulop:
Jarramiah Healy
MayorHealy@jcnj.org
City Hall – 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5200
Fax: (201) 547-4288/5442
Steve Fulop
City Hall, 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5315
Fax: (201) 547-4678
Daisy, the Jersey City tabby who was dumped in a park by Animal Control officers Aaron Jordan and John Marsh Jr. rather than taken to a shelter, was happily reunited today with her owner, Morgan Metius (above). The two-year-old indoor cat spent almost four days in the wilds of Lincoln Park and miraculously survived Monday’s snowstorm.
Jersey City Animal Care and Control’s supervising officer, Joe Frank, trapped Daisy in Lincoln Park using mackerel as bait, according to Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill. Frank had set out 15 traps throughout the park.
“She lost a little weight around the ribs, stinks to high heaven of mackerel, its purring more than ever and asleep in the place she belongs – at the foot of my bed!!!,” Morgan wrote on the Web site jclist. “A happy ending! Please understand that its not over for me. What happend is an outrage and needs not be swept under the rug. I am taking measures to ensure that ACOs will be treated as the law says appropriate and Animals lost can find saftey at a shelter EVERY TIME!!”
Pressured by animal lovers, the city is investigating the incident. A few of you have asked how to contact the mayor, so here is his contact info:
Jarramiah Healy MayorHealy@jcnj.org
City Hall – 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5200
Fax: (201) 547-4288/5442
City Councilman Steve Fulop has also launched an investigation:
Steve Fulop
City Hall, 280 Grove Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5315
Fax: (201) 547-4678
Contacting these individuals will help ensure that, now that the story has a happy ending, the ACOs are not let off the hook for their actions. Take a minute to email the mayor and let him know that Jordan and Marsh should not only be fired, but charged with animal cruelty and serve jail time.
In yet another intolerable act of cruelty, two Jersey City Animal Control Officers — Aaron Jordan and John Marsh Jr. — picked up a grey tabby on a call at a residence in Jersey City and then dumped it in Lincoln Park rather than follow protocol and take it to Liberty Animal Shelter. It was later discovered that the cat –Daisy– lived next door to the residence where the tabby was picked up.
When the cat’s owner, Morgan Metius, discovered that Daisy had been picked up, she contacted Animal Control to retrieve the cat. After denials from Animal Control, she found out from one of the officers that Daisy had been dumped in an undeveloped area of Lincoln Park, over a mile from her home. “I find it unbelievable that they did something like this,” Metius said this weekend. “And what’s worse, the officer said he has been doing this for years.” Daisy is an indoor cat that never goes outdoors.
Local animal lovers have called for a complete overhaul of the Animal Control office. In the wake of this incident, Officers Jordan and Marsh were removed from fielding animal control calls but will still work in the Journal Square Animal Control office.
Metius and her boyfriend still searching for Daisy, setting up a trap to catch the 10-pound grey tabby. Incredibly, when they searched Lincoln Park this weekend, her boyfriend allegedly observed and photographed another animal control officer dumping a cat in the area where they were searching.
Councilman Steve Fulop (PH 201: 547-5315) is also conducting an investigation.
If you have seen Daisy, particularly in the Mercer Street area or in Lincoln Park, please call (646) 644-9701.
In New Jersey this week, a feral tomcat was rescued from the prospect of spending a lifetime looking like a framed picture of himself. Seven months ago, the black cat put his head through a hole in latticework under a house, and became stuck. Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery tried to free the cat (who he has since named “Lucky”), first breaking off a section of the latticework, but Lucky had other ideas and took off with 4 inches of latticework still around his neck.
The big black cat stayed in the neighborhood but avoided capture for seven months. Miraculously, he sustained no injuries from his latticework collar.
On Jan. 8, Montgomery set a trap outside a crawlspace beneath a house where Lucky was hiding. The next day Lissy Holryd, the trap, neuter and release coordinator for the Animal Alliance of Cape May County set a larger trap and caught him. Veterinarian Matt Schwert drove to the shelter to remove the latticework and while he was at it, did some snip-snip-snipping and took care of Lucky’s boy bits.
Lucky was released back to his neighborhood on Jan. 11th. Montgomery said he would frame the latticework and hang it in his office.
It’s one of the top five cat shows held in the United States, it is the largest in the Northeast. 
.jpg)
Barn Buddy cats are spayed or neutered, receive rabies and distemper vaccines, are Feline Leukemia and FIV tested and are ear-tipped for easy identification. Ear tipping is a painless procedure in which a small notch is cut into the ear indicating that the animal has been spayed or neutered. The AACMC absorbs all fees associated with the cats in exchange for an agreement to continue long-term care, feeding and shelter for the cat.
In New Jersey this week, a feral tomcat was rescued from the prospect of spending a lifetime looking like a framed picture of himself. Seven months ago, the black cat put his head through a hole in latticework under a house, and became stuck. Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery tried to free the cat (who he has since named “Lucky”), first breaking off a section of the latticework, but Lucky had other ideas and took off with 4 inches of latticework still around his neck. 
