An Atlantic County woman was charged with animal cruelty in connection with allegations that she mistreated five dogs — several of whom became infected with an often-fatal disease — and then abandoning them in the woods after they became ill, officials said Saturday.
Authorities arrested Jodi Wozniak, 45, of Galloway Township, charging her with animal cruelty as well as multiple crimes in several municipalities related to the payment of treatment for the animals, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The charges stem from a months-long investigation into Wozniak over allegations that she left dogs to fend for themselves after they grew sick or needed medical treatment, according to a statement.
On Sept. 16, an investigator with the prosecutor’s office received a tip from Galloway Township Police that five dogs that appeared to be German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois breeds found in the woods, the statement said. Officers that discovered some of the dogs tied to a tree and others were inside kennels, left with no water or food.
The owner of the wooded area where the dogs were found said the dogs — which were owned by Wozniak — had been left by themselves for at least 15 hours.
Wozniak refused to surrender the dogs, going as far as to trespass back on the property Sept. 21, after she had been prohibited from doing so, authorities said.
That same day, an investigator with the prosecutor’s office received another call, this time from Linwood Police Department, notifying them that Wozniak brought puppies of the same breed to Linwood Animal Hospital, the statement said. Three were infected with Parvo virus, a highly contagious canine disease that can be fatal if left untreated.
Ultimately, three of the infected puppies were euthanized and one puppy was returned to Wozniak, the statement said. As of Saturday, one other puppy was still being treated at Linwood Animal Hospital, according to the statement.
When paying the hospital for the puppies’ treatment, Wozniak allegedly used a stolen credit card, according to the statement. She ended up surrendering one infected puppy to be treated at the hospital, according to the prosecutor’s office.
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, fraudulent use of a credit card and cruelty to animals by Linwood Police Department, according to the statement.
Police had been investigating Wozniak since late August, when an Absecon Police officer discovered that Wozniak had allegedly brought a puppy into the Absecon Animal Hospital on August 28, according to the statement. The puppy was brought in and treated for an obstruction in its digestive tract, but after Wozniak was told how much the treatment would likely be, she allegedly abandoned the puppy, according to the statement.
The multiple charges filed against Wozniak led to her being processed across several municipalities, first by Galloway Police, then Linwood Police Department and finally Absecon Police Department, according to the statement.
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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