The director of a Jackson Township animal sanctuary faces two counts of animal cruelty in connection with two dogs that died in her care last year. The charges against Laura Pople, director of Seer Farms, come after a Kane In Your Corner investigation that raised questions about whether the NJSPCA had properly investigated that case and others.

Carl Shepherd says he feels “a lot better” now that charges have been filed in connection with the death of one of his dogs. “I didn't think I was going to get any results at all, but you guys did the interview, aired it on TV and something was done,” Shepherd says.

In May, Shepherd told Kane In Your Corner how he had to place his dogs at Seer Farms after a fire consumed his Jersey City home. When the dogs died shortly thereafter, he called the NJSPCA repeatedly for months, pleading for an investigation into conditions. On May 1, the agency left him a voicemail, asking him to stop calling and assuring him the case was being actively investigated.

But Kane In Your Corner found Shepherd’s complaint was actually one of at least 250 cases that the NJSPCA had never activated, or which had blank investigative narratives, or were still assigned to officers no longer on the job. Shepherd says he only heard from an investigator after his interview aired. 

Pople did not reply to messages. She faces a court date next month.