Jersey City has decided to get into the business of operating an animal shelter. The city has ended its contract with the group Liberty Humane Society, which had taken on shelter and animal control services for nearly 20 years.

There are 150 dogs and cats inside of the shelter. The Liberty Humane Society is now on a mission to get all of those animals either adopted or into foster care before Jersey City takes over operations. That takeover starts on Jan. 1.

“The idea is to find homes for as many animals as we can right now,” says Irene Borngraeber, executive director of the Liberty Humane Society. “Since we first made the appeal, we’ve had eight animals leave the building adopted completely and we’ve had over 100 applications for adoption.”

Liberty Humane Society will run the shelter and animal control services citywide until Dec. 31. Then Jersey City’s Department of Health and Humans Services will move into the building and take over.

The mayor and City Council decided to cut ties with the Liberty Humane Society. The Department of Health said there were deficiencies in their animal control operation, along with public complaints about their service. And the city wasn’t pleased the shelter was not open to the public.

Liberty Humane Society cited COVID-19 as the need for people to make appointments. The city also states the shelter is not providing monthly reporting and invoicing.

News 12 asked Borngraeber about the criticism and the end of this relationship.

“It is shocking and extremely disappointing for the relationship to end in this matter,” she says. “It is clear that the city of Jersey City and LHS do not align on how services should be rendered and that’s extremely unfortunate.”

To help move the animals into new homes, Liberty Humane Society is waiving adoption fees on large dogs and adult cats. Large dogs normally cost $175.

That fee waiver starts on Saturday.