Galloway Woman Charged With Animal Cruelty To 5 Dogs: Prosecutor

GALLOWAY, NJ — A Galloway Township woman has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with allegations that she mistreated five dogs, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office announced Saturday.

Jodi Wozniak, 45, faces multiple charges in Absecon, Galloway Township and Linwood after a cooperative investigation by four Atlantic County law enforcement agencies and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit.

Wozniak was charged with theft of services by Absecon Police Department, five counts of animal cruelty by Galloway Township Police Department and theft of services, and fraudulent use of a credit card and cruelty to animals by Linwood Police Department.

The charges come after a months-long investigation into Wozniak over allegations that she abandoned five dogs in the woods, according to a statement released by Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill.

On Sept. 16, ACPO Investigator Denise Manino was told by a Galloway Township police officer that five adult dogs that appeared to be German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois breeds were in the woods north of Pitney Road in Galloway, Shill said.

Some of the dogs were tethered to a tree and others were inside kennels without food or water. The owner of the wooded area where the dogs were found said the dogs, which were owned by Wozniack, had been left alone for at least 15 hours.

The dogs were taken to Atlantic County Animal Shelter and put on a protective hold and at that time Wozniak refused to surrender the dogs, according to the statement. Galloway police said Wozniak was taken into custody for trespassing back on the property she was ordered not to return to, following a judicial eviction order that was signed on Sept. 13.

That same day, ACPO Investigator Manino was notified by Sgt. Charles Champion of the Linwood Police Department that Wozniak had brought puppies of the same breed — all suffering from the Parvo virus — to Linwood Animal Hospital. Three of the infected puppies were euthanized, Shill said.

One puppy was returned to Wozniak and one puppy was still at Linwood Animal Hospital receiving treatment. Wozniak called Linwood Animal Hospital and allegedly used a stolen credit card to pay for some of the services rendered to the five puppies, Shill said.

Wozniak has surrendered the surviving puppy, which was still being treated at the Linwood Animal Hospital on Saturday, according to the statement.

The investigation involving Wozniack began in late August when Absecon police officer April Kolakowski found that Wozniak had brought a puppy into the Absecon Animal Hospital on Aug. 28 for an obstruction in its digestive tract, Shill said.

After Wozniack was given an estimate for the treatment of the puppy, she never returned to pay for the services and then allegedly abandoned the puppy, according to the statement.

After Galloway Police processed Wozniak on their charges on Tuesday, Linwood Police Department traveled to Galloway Township to transport Wozniak to Linwood to be processed on their charges. Linwood Police then took Wozniak to the Absecon Police Department to be processed on their charges.

Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Heyer represents the state in this matter.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or to leave tips at www.acpo.org/tips.html. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or go to the site at www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/.

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