New Animal Welfare Nonprofit In Montclair Hopes To ‘Fill In Gaps’

MONTCLAIR, NJ — For a long time, Karen Sacks and her peers in the community wondered how to boost the numerous animal-welfare groups in the area and fill in the gaps that they can’t reach. And last month, they finally rolled out their answer: Partners in Animal Welfare Inc. (PAW).

With the launch of their Montclair-based nonprofit in July, Sacks and the other members of its board of trustees and advisory board have reached a milestone that they’ve been working towards for years.

“My fellow animal-welfare advocates and I have long wondered how to help underfunded animal-welfare groups that do such incredible work and how to overcome gaps in services that unfortunately result,” said Sacks, who serves as president of the Friends of the Montclair Township Animal Shelter and is a New Jersey humane policy leader volunteer for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

“We look forward to helping as many animals and animal-welfare organizations as we possibly can,” Sacks added.

According to a statement from the nonprofit, PAW’s mission is to “aid animals in crisis and promote their humane treatment through financial and program assistance, advocacy and education.”

It plans to do this in several ways:

• Provide emergency medical-expense grants to make shelter animals adoptable and help low-income pet owners keep their pets
• Fund programs including those that assist older animals
• Increase housing options for pets and owners in crisis, such as victims of domestic violence and human trafficking

The folks at PAW didn’t reach their milestone alone, organizers said.

The law firm of Lowenstein Sandler LLP in Roseland, referred to PAW by the Pro Bono Partnership in Parsippany, provided pro bono legal services to incorporate the nonprofit, secure tax-exempt status and help with trademark issues. And as it awaits nonprofit status, PAW is being fiscally sponsored by the Friends of the Montclair Township Animal Shelter.

In return, PAW has hit the ground running and has already started grantmaking, organizers said. That includes emergency funds for Rosemarie’s Rescue Ranch to help cover surgical expenses for a severely injured dog found whimpering behind a dumpster (see above photo).

Susan Janett, co-founder of Rosemarie’s Rescue Ranch, thanked the fledgling nonprofit for “recognizing a need and stepping up to help.”

The nonprofit is seeking donations from individuals and grant-making organizations, and plans to hold fundraising events in the near future. And it will have help from people such as Sacks and Elissa Frank, HSUS’s New Jersey state director and a PAW Advisory Board member

“I look forward to serving a new animal-welfare organization that will help so many deserving animals and those who care for them,” Frank said.

Learn more about the nonprofit and its mission here.

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