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PISCATAWAY – The Johnson Park Animal Haven will shut, with some animals relocated to different zoos or sanctuaries, whereas some could discover a new house close by.
Middlesex County unveiled a three-pronged plan final week for the way forward for the zoo in Johnson Park on River Road which was flooded throughout Hurricane Ida final September. The plan comes following a report carried out by French and Parrello Associates and Zoo Advisors who had been employed in December to check your entire Middlesex County park system with a concentrate on its three animal havens.
Though many of the animals will be moved to sanctuaries or taken to zoos in different county parks, County Administrator John Pulomena mentioned a few dozen animals will be moved to a brand new facility to be constructed subsequent to East Jersey Olde Town Village as a part of “a brand new and historic animal husbandry program.”
East Jersey Olde Town Village, additionally on River Road in Piscataway, is the county’s assortment of historic constructions from the 1700s and 1800s that affords reveals, packages and dwelling historical past.
These animals embrace Maggie the cow, who was not too long ago moved to Merrill Park in Colonia, two thoroughbred horses, three goats and 6 chickens.
“The choose group of animals will present a platform for this historic animal husbandry program that dovetails into our Destination 2040 objectives {and professional} planning suggestions and complete assessments of the location,” Pulomena mentioned. “We are already within the technique of constructing out the mandatory wants for that and extra info will observe because it turns into obtainable.”
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Olde Town will not be thought of to be within the flood plain that encompasses Johnson Park the place the Animal Haven is, Pulomena added.
Ashley Hartwik, founding father of the Friends of Johnson Park Animals (FJPA), mentioned the county’s plan is extra optimistic than destructive.
“The present zoo space will be dismantled,” Hartwik mentioned. “I used to be overjoyed that they did the precise factor. You know, I believe everybody knew that it was the precise factor, but they needed to guarantee that they had been following a course of and a fact-finding report, so that they received that. They tried to provide you with a plan the place they might nonetheless have animals at Johnson Park for the folks that needed animals there.”
While advocates are involved about housing animals in a husbandry program or at different county parks, the truth that a number of animals are slated to go to sanctuaries is “great,” Hartwik mentioned, including she hopes the county will rapidly launch animals to sanctuaries.
Several “susceptible” Johnson Park animals have already been relocated to the zoos at Merrill Park and Thompson Park in Monroe, Pulomena mentioned.
Animals headed to sanctuaries embrace Nippy the miniature horse, the pink fox, raccoon and others together with birds, white-tailed and fallow deer, pythons, iguana, rabbits, roosters and goats. On April 2, the county launched 4 alpacas to Live Free Farm, an animal sanctuary in Montgomery. That brings the present complete of animals already at sanctuaries to 11, Hartwik mentioned.
Previously, the county launched Milton the goat to Goats of Anarchy, Mamacita the goat and her two infants to R.J. Stokely, and two pigs and one ram to Uncle Neil’s Home.
But FJPA members consider there are potential issues with the Olde Town plan.
“It will nonetheless be run by the identical individuals who had been liable for the nightmare to the animals in Johnson Park,” Hartwik mentioned. “The space they wish to put it in nonetheless floods, regardless of claims on the contrary. It will be extraordinarily costly for taxpayers. And after these particular animals go, they plan to supply extra ‘heritage’ animals from a breeding farm to be put there. This husbandry program will not be what the park wants. We will oppose the husbandry program too and attempt to get the remainder of these animals launched to sanctuaries.”
The county mentioned staffers will be despatched to courses on the right way to correctly deal with animals. That information was welcomed by the FJPA.
“One factor that is actually necessary is that they clearly did make a real effort to accommodate all the edges of the problem,” Hartwik mentioned. “They actually did attempt to accommodate the truth that some of the animals clearly don’t belong there, just like the wildlife. They accommodated the truth that the space the animals had been in is a flood plain. They accommodated the truth that there are some people that needed to nonetheless have animals in Johnson Park, so that they they’re now doing this historic husbandry program. They actually did make an effort to accommodate as many alternative issues as they might. And we nonetheless have issues over some of it — I believe the high quality particulars should be ironed out. But I admire that they’ve made that effort.”
e-mail: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning options and training reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, a part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin.
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