Judge orders couple to give proper food, water, shelter to farm animals in Millstone NJ

Today Superior Court Judge Patricia Del Bueno Cleary granted an injunction ordering defendants Christopher Vaccaro and Tina Perna of Millstone Township to provide their animals with at least 500 gallons of drinking water a day, and to provide sufficient food and shelter as required by the Department of Agriculture humane welfare regulations and the animal cruelty statutes.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by animal welfare attorney Dante DiPirro on behalf of Stuart Goldman alleging that a veterinarian’s inspection on Sunday had revealed horrible conditions, including no drinking water, insufficient food and inadequate shelter.

Today’s order also granted a right of access to the property to monitor compliance with the court order and the authority to remove animals at risk of imminent death or serious injury.

For months, Plaintiff and Monmouth County SPCA Chief Buddy Amato had documented violations, warned defendants to provide the legally required care, and filed cruelty complaints in Millstone Municipal Court (the Municipal charges are scheduled for trial March 23-24). This week, with evidence that the animals were in desperate need – including no drinking water whatsoever — Plaintiff filed a law suit in Superior Court seeking emergent injunctive relief for the animals.

The parties are scheduled to return to Superior Court April 24th to determine if additional relief should be granted.

Plaintiff Goldman said: “This is a good day for the animals. These animals are not even getting drinking water. Nursing mothers are suffering the most. On Sunday, the vet determined that they were so seriously dehydrated that they were having trouble even providing milk for their babies.”

Dante DiPirro said: “We want to thank Bud Amato of the Monmouth County SPCA for his active support of this case and the request for injunctive relief. His assistance was extremely helpful in securing this emergent order. Animals lives were hanging in the balance.”

Link to NJ.com news article: http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2015/02/judge_orders_couple_to_give_proper_food_water_shel.html#comments

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