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Two dogs were found dead during a 7 a.m. raid at a Vernon Township home led by the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, Feb. 20, authorities reported.
Both Gizela Juric, who founded the Angels for Animals Network in Cliffside Park before moving it to Sussex County, and her boyfriend, Ronald Colgan, were charged with six criminal animal cruelty accounts, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported.
Additional charges are expected, authorities said.
Daily Voice broke the news of the raid on Tuesday.
Juric has billed the Angels for Animals Network as a non-profit no-kill rescue for homeless dogs and cats, one that will “only adopt to the Tri-State area and some parts of Pennsylvania."
Local residents have long complained, however, that dogs had been left outside, with some roaming free along area roads. Many of them have posted photos of the various strays over the past year.
The SPCA said dogs varying breeds, ages and sizes were found, "including some who are underweight and have untreated medical issues."
They were "living in a filthy home amongst their own feces and urine and exposed to high levels of ammonia," the agency reported on Feb. 21.
"Some of the animals had dirty, severely matted coats, including one dog who was found with nails matted into their fur," the ASPCA announced in a news release. "Some dogs were underweight and had untreated medical conditions including eye infections and injuries. Several dogs were living in cars."
All were taken to the ASPCA’s Cruelty Recovery Center in Madison for care.
Juric was charged with animal cruelty earlier this month "in connection with the death of a fifth dog in her care," the agency said.
“The ASPCA is grateful to be in a position where we can collaborate with local agencies across the country to provide critical resources and expertise to rescue at-risk animals and bring them to safety,” said Teresa Ladner, the senior director of Investigations for the ASPCA.
“It’s clear these dogs were not receiving adequate treatment even though they were under the care of a self-described animal rescue group," she added.Ladner commended the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office and Vernon Township Police Department "for intervening to help end their suffering.”
Vernon Township Mayor Anthony Rossi praised law enforcement and the ASPCA "for all their hard work in rescuing these animals."The search-warranted raid began around 6 a.m. Tuesday in the PVL section of town and continued into the evening, the mayor said.Neighbors lauded the operation and said it was a long time coming.
“Gizela has been neglecting the dogs that she ‘rescues’ at her unfit-to-live-in residence in Vernon since 2020,” one resident posted on Facebook. “These dogs run the streets all hours, unfed, unhealthy and dirty. She should have been shut down YEARS AGO when they ran her out of Wantage.”
“This woman has been reported several times for abusing the animals she claims to be saving,” another wrote. “These are in very small cages, jammed into cars, into a van on the property, no medical intervention and who knows if they are even being fed?
“She’s been reported driving around with 12-15 dogs in her car [who] need obvious medical attention. I have witnessed what she does and have reported her myself.”
One resident noted that the dogs “are always running loose, sometimes packs of seven or eight. Not only is this a danger to the animal…it is also dangerous to the people [who] live in this neighborhood. Seven dogs can do some serious damage to a child or another animal."
“Someone has to do something about this for the sake of those animals’ lives,” another neighbor wrote.
Juric launched a GoFundMe campaign in January. In it, she said she was "begging for help."
The help was needed caring for dogs who are "forgotten [and] never will get love," particularly in Egypt, Juric wrote.
There, she noted, authorities mutilate dogs, poison them and even throw acid on them.
Juric raised only $1,780 of a $4,000 goal through the campaign.
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