A Galloway Township woman allegedly left several dogs outside for hours without food or water, and tried using a stolen credit card to pay for treatment of others, according to a cooperative investigation involving three towns and the Atlantic Count Prosecutor's Office.
Jodi Wozniak, 45, faces five counts of cruelty to animals out of Absecon and two counts in Linwood after a multi-agency investigation, acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill announced.
Wozniak's lists her as a private home health care nurse for the past six years, and a graduate of Egg Harbor Township High School.
The investigation began in Galloway, where police found five adult dogs owned by Wozniak had been left in woods around North Pitney Road.
Officer David LaSassa called Prosecutor's Office Investigator Denise Manino on Sept. 16, saying some of the dogs were tethered to a tree, while others were inside kennels without food or water.
They had been left there for about 15 hours, the property's owner told police.
The dogs, which appeared to be German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois were taken to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter and put on a protective hold, according to the report.
Wozniak refused to surrender the dogs.
Five days later, Wozniak was arrested after she came back onto the property, where she was banned under a judicial eviction order signed Sept. 13, Shill said.
That same day, Linwood Sgt. Charles Champion called Manino, telling her that Wozniak had brought puppies appearing to be the same breed as the adult dogs to the Linwood Animal Hospital.
They were all suffering from the parvovirus, a contagious virus that is highly deadly but can be prevented by a vaccine.
Three of the puppies had to be euthanized, one was released to Wozniak and the other remains hospitalized receiving treatment.
Wozniak called Linwood Animal Hospital and used a stolen credit card to pay for some of the services rendered to the puppies, according to the charges.
Champion also said Absecon Police Officer April Kolakowski was working a case regarding Wozniak.
Wozniak had brought a puppy into the Absecon Animal Hospital on Aug. 28, for treatment for an obstruction in its digestive track.
Wozniak was given an estimate for the treatment but never returned to pay, and abandoned the puppy, Kolakowski's investigation found.
She was processed by all three towns Tuesday.
Wozniak is not jailed on the charges. She was in custody of Ocean County police on Sept. 13, when the eviction order was signed, records show. She bonded out on $1,500.
