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Residents urge Union County to create animal shelter after reports of starving dogs
Summary
Public commenters told commissioners that animals in Union County towns — including Elizabeth and Plainfield — are being found starving and that the county needs a shelter and improved animal care arrangements; callers urged compassion and a county-level response.
Residents urged Union County officials to address animal welfare and to establish or improve county shelter resources, citing recent incidents of starving dogs and concerns about current animal-control arrangements in some towns.
During the public-comment period, a resident identified in the transcript as Diana Gonzalez of Clark, New Jersey, offered brief remarks. Another resident, speaking about animal welfare in Union County, described a recent case in Elizabeth in which a starving dog was returned to an owner after police, the fire department and Elizabeth's animal shelter were called. The commenter said, "I have pictures. He is starving," and urged the county to provide a shelter and more compassionate animal-care arrangements.
The commenter also referenced problems in Plainfield, saying Plainfield experienced issues after changing its animal-control contract and that an individual working under the new contract had been charged with animal abuse related to a dog found in a dumpster at a contracted shelter. The transcript does not provide documentation or follow-up from county staff during the meeting.
Speakers asked the board to consider county-level shelter resources and better animal-control oversight; no formal board action on the subject is recorded in the transcript. The public-comment period concluded with the clerk's time-limit procedures noted on the record.
