Woodbridge Animal Shelter, A Place of Tales

Recently I wrote about a sad situation at the Woodbridge Animal Shelter involving Marge Petrow, a longtime, dedicated leader of a group of volunteers at the shelter, and Heather, the shelter’s animal control officer.

Before going into the “Marge-Heather brouhaha”, note that neither Marge, Heather nor I are overly found of each other.  Both have tried to malign me, in their own fashion, on prior occasions.  Regardless, I assure those reading this article, I have made every effort to remain objective in my commentary on the situation.  While no fan of Mayor John McCormac or Dennis Green, the Director of Health, Woodbridge Twp., my interests in this matter are not politically motivated. There will be those that would have you believe otherwise.

So what’s the story? Here is what I have been told.

Marge recently walked out of a meeting with Heather and three of her paid staff at the shelter.  Heather and her staff were ganging up on Marge over Marge’s use of her 501c-3’s contributions.  They were angered over Marge using her 501c-3 monies to pay for veterinarian service with a vet not under contract with the township.

Having had extensive experience with the current township vet and his staff with my own cats and dogs, I have found them to be highly competent and competitive.  Be that as it may, I believe Marge has the right to use her 501c-3 funds, as she sees fit, with the following caveat.  When it comes to using an outside vet, she should first adopt the animal(s), thus making it her personal property.

Since Heather and Marge are both very strong personalities and, arguably, have different styles, a major clash between them was predictable.  Marge is said to have a much greater positive following with shelter volunteers and some township workers, than does Heather.

Even if that contention is true, the fact still remains Heather is the shelter’s manager.  If for no other reason, she apparently has the support of Messrs. McCormac and Green.  Is the McCormac – Green support predicated on more than just Heather’s preeminent position at the shelter?  Those closer to the situation may be in a better position to answer that question.

There is a second 501c-3 that was established to offset costs at the shelter.  That 501c-3, WAG (Woodbridge Animal Group), was established by Dennis Green.  The organizations 2011, 990 IRS filing, shows Dennis Green as President and his wife, Theresa, as its vice president. Attention should also be paid to the Trustees and Secretary.  Here is a link to that filing: https://bulk.resource.org/irs.gov/eo/2012_06_EO/20-1755891_990_201112.pdf 

For those with deeper insights into this matter, you can post your commentary, either pro or con, in the commentary section of this blog.