Residents urge Woodbridge to fund TNR program, cite long shelter waits and volunteer burden

At the Woodbridge Township Council public meeting, several residents asked the council to create a funded trap-neuter-return (TNR) program to address a rising population of free-roaming cats and what volunteers described as slow shelter response.

“Can you help me? Can you help me? I’m only one person,” Pauline Rhodes said during public comment, urging the township to provide monthly mobile-veterinary support and to address long shelter wait times. Rhodes said she and local groups handled hundreds of cats and contrasted the contracted shelter vet’s $275 fee against a mobile vet charge of about $65.

Mary Anne Finnimore, who said she filed an OPRA request for 2023 resident call reports, told the council she found 104 resident calls for trapping that year representing a minimum of 472 cats — 391 adults and 81 kittens — and that many calls showed delays of months before the shelter followed up. “The last report in the closed category was dated July 15 and was just closed March 11,” Finnimore said, citing an eight-month example of delayed response.

Volunteers who spoke described personal costs, long drives to distant clinics and the public-safety and animal-welfare consequences of inaction. “It’s unfortunately, the shelters are overwhelmed,” said volunteer Shari Wexler, urging the council to “have a town-funded and supported TNR program” both to protect animals and reduce shelter expense.

Mark Miller recounted a separate interaction with animal-control staff that he called “a terrible experience,” saying he was met with “the rudest attitude” and was threatened with tickets for feeding an animal. He said volunteers ultimately helped locate the owner.

Volunteer Danielle Jackson described learning to trap and arranging spay/neuter services on her own after encountering a six-week shelter wait: “Since last year, I’ve trapped about 14 cats, had them neutered or spayed. They get their rabies shot, microchip, and then we snip the tip-off of the left ear,” she said, describing standard TNR ear-tipping used to identify altered animals. Jackson also presented a reproduction model to illustrate potential population growth if unspayed cats are not altered.

Mayor (speaker 2) thanked commenters and said the administration already has discussed the issue and that, “based on your comments, I think it’s worth that we have another discussion about it.” No ordinance or budget appropriation was proposed or voted on during the meeting; council members acknowledged the concerns and agreed to revisit the topic in follow-up discussions.

What’s next: Council members said they will raise the topic again with the administration; no formal actions (ordinance, funding commitments or contractual changes for the shelter) were taken during this session.

Sources and attributions: Quotes and figures above were taken from public comments during the meeting where residents identified themselves as Pauline Rhodes, Mary Anne Finnimore, Shari Wexler, Mark Miller and Danielle Jackson.