Woman indicted for abandoning 5 dogs in the woods for days

Charlie Dwyer

MAYS LANDING— An Atlantic County Grand Jury has returned an indictment against a Galloway Township woman for multiple counts of animal cruelty after she left 5 dogs unattended in the woods for days, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill announced.

Jodi Wozniak, 45, has been indicted on five counts of 4th degree Cruelty to Animals, Bodily Injury, Failure to Care.

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, ACPO Investigator Denise Manino received a telephone call from Galloway Twp. Officer David LaSassa, regarding five adult dogs of German Shepherd / Belgian Malinois breed that appeared to be abandoned in the woods in the area of N. Pitney Road in Galloway. Officer LaSassa stated that some of the dogs were tethered to a tree and others were inside kennels with no food or water. 

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The dogs— that were owned by Wozniak—had been left alone for at least 15 hours according to the owner of the property.  The dogs were taken to Atlantic County Animal Shelter and put on a protective hold and at that time Wozniak refused to surrender the dogs. Investigator Manino received a phone call on Sept. 21, 2021, from Officer LaSassa stating Wozniak was in custody for trespassing back on the property she was ordered not to return to, following a judicial eviction order that was signed on Sept. 13, 2021.


Atlantic County Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Heyer represents the state in this matter.


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