If you live in West Windsor the quality of your life just took a huge hit on Monday, March 7. That’s when the Town Council decided it could save a few dollars by firing our Animal Control Officer of 18 years, Bettina Roed, and contract her services to the ACO from East Windsor, who would charge West Windsor by the hour for his services.
So now if you find a stray dog in your backyard or your pet escapes from your property, or there is a raccoon stuck in your chimney you will call the West Windsor police who will call the East Windsor police who will call the East Windsor ACO who will show up after he’s finished his work in East Windsor (and Hightstown) where he is a real, full-time ACO. Only he won’t show up for the raccoon because he’s only going to handle rabid wild animals. (So you’ll pay several hundreds dollars to a “pest control” service who will probably kill it.) And he sure isn’t coming out to help look for your pet. He might take the stray dog to a kill-shelter in East Brunswick (where dogs from East Windsor are brought and where the West Windsor owner may or may not think to look for it before seven days are up and it’s euthanized).
Bettina was given one week’s notice of this event before the Council meeting. Perhaps the Council thought that only a few “old lady” animal lovers might show up asking the council to please spare Bettina’s job because she’s worked so hard and she needs the money, etc. Indeed the Council was prepared for this line of argument, with Linda Geever’s sole justification of the action being the old “these things are really hard but we have to all share the pain” etc.
What the Council wasn’t prepared for (not that it seemed to bother them) was the 40 or 50 people who showed up from all around the state, including a police officer, many, many rescue and shelter workers, residents of both West Windsor and East Windsor and many others who begged the Council not to make what is surely one of the most foolish and thoughtless decisions ever made in that room (a high bar indeed).
Bettina Roed is a legend. Literally. She has won awards for her work as an ACO. For every hour she gets paid she probably puts in two or more unpaid hours. I have worked with wild animals and pet animals in two continents, three countries, and numerous states, and I have never met anyone who comes close to Bettina.
I made a three-minute statement at the Council meeting on Monday on behalf of retaining Bettina. I am not a personal friend of hers. Usually when I need her I can’t remember how to pronounce her last name. I did not show up to ask the council to have “mercy” and not fire her because I felt sorry her. Rather, I asked the council to show “mercy” to the animals of West Windsor and to me — a taxpayer and long-time resident of the township. There are many excellent communities to live in nearby. I can count on one hand the number of things that truly makes West Windsor a better place to live than any of those. Actually, if pushed, I can come down to just a few fingers, and Bettina is one of them.
At the council meeting story after story after story was told of the unbelievable things that Bettina has done (many or most of them on her own time). I have many amazing stories myself; for example, last year when, in 100 degree heat, Bettina, clad in heavy protective garb, climbed up a 20 foot fir tree to rescue a stray kitten. Then when she found that it was starving and with a serious infection, she took it to the vet for treatment and then found a volunteer to rehabilitate it.
Council cut off comment after about five speakers since it was clear that there were so many people in the room to talk about how vital it is to keep Bettina such that even at a (very sharply clocked) three minutes a piece, they’d be there all night listening. And they clearly did not want to listen. Council then “discussed” the issue among themselves for about two minutes. Their comments made it very clear that they had already discussed this at length before and made up their minds long before they entered the room what they were going to do. No minds were changed. They then voted: Morgan, Geevers, and Khanna to fire Bettina, Ciccone and Borek (bless you) against.
And just like that West Windsor threw away one of the most amazing resources this township has ever had to save (they think) a few thousand dollars. And there’s not a thing we can do about it — except for how we respond in the next election. In the meantime, pray your dog doesn’t get lost or you hear chirping sounds from your chimney.
Nancy Bennett
29 Fieldston Road, West Windsor
