About Us
Who We Are
OUR VISION
Animal Protection League of New Jersey envisions a world where animals no longer suffer at the hands of humans, but instead are free to live their own lives.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to create a compassionate society. Working with the public, policy makers and government officials, we advocate for lifestyle changes, programs, policies and laws that promote nonviolent coexistence with animals.
Our Core Values
Compassion
APLNJ acknowledges that everyone is on their own journey toward a better world. In a nonjudgmental and nurturing manner, we encourage others to empathize with animals and include them in their circle of compassion.
Integrity
APLNJ has an unwavering commitment to our mission, never sacrificing one animal to protect another or accepting short term, meaningless gains at the animals’ expense. We work for all animals and take on campaigns that have the most impact.
Collaboration
Operating as a team player, APLNJ believes in coalition-building, which swells our ranks and allows us to draw upon the experiences of others. Collaboration grows our effectiveness in bringing about positive social change for animals.
Trustworthy
Our volunteers and donors are our lifeblood, giving their time, expertise, financial support and trust to APLNJ. We work to continuously earn that trust through professional and ethical behavior.
Our Staff
Angi Metler Executive Director
Angi co-founded APLNJ in 1983 and serves as its executive director. She has overseen its growth to a nationally recognized and highly respected state-wide organization with a staff of motivated, talented, and professional animal protection advocates. Angi saw the need to take action, to build upon the compassionate actions of others, and to develop dynamic campaigns that work.
Angi has organized hundreds of campaigns, demonstrations, marches, outreach events, educational conferences and seminars. Once aware of the typical American diet’s devastating effects on billions of animals, our planet, and the health of countless people, Angi became a vegan in 1983.
Since 1988, she has been involved with black bear protection and education and was instrumental in forming the Coalition to Protect New Jersey Black Bears. APLNJ and the Bear Education And Resource Group host the coalition, representing over 800,000 New Jersey residents, and have successfully stopped eleven bear hunts, removed the state parks from 2018-2021, and prevented seven others from taking place in the 1990s. To reach Angi directly, click here.
Janine Motta Programs Director
Janine’s journey with Animal Protection League began when she picked up an APLNJ flier supporting legislation to outlaw the infamous Draize test (testing chemicals in rabbits’ eyes). It opened her eyes to the issues of product testing on animals and animal protection. Janine recalls the profound effect it had on her, leading her toward a career in animal advocacy and a vegan lifestyle.
Janine started with APLNJ in August 1988 as an office volunteer and a volunteer coordinator in the then-Northeast District. In May 1989, Janine became office manager, handling many parts of the organization from fundraising to bookkeeping to outreach to public presentations. In 2009, she moved into her current role, using her passion, professionalism and dedication to further APLNJ’s mission.
When not working, Janine enjoys outdoor activities such as mountain biking, hiking and kayaking and spending time with her wife and their furred and feathered family members.
Janine holds a BS from Southern Connecticut State University in recreation and leisure, specializing in community recreation and youth development. But her introduction to animal protection in 1988 set the course for the rest of her life. To reach Janine directly, click here.
Susan Russell Wildlife Policy Director
Susan Russell, whom the Star Ledger has described as “formidable” and “gutsy,” is a veteran wildlife protection professional with years of state, national, and international experience. She is former vice president of Friends of Animals, Inc., (New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.), and former legislative advisor for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Society for Animal Protective Legislation in Washington, D.C.
In New Jersey, the late Assemblyman D. Bennett Mazur, sponsor of New Jersey’s landmark laws banning steel-jaw leg hold traps and trade in wild-caught birds, praised Susan as “a consummate professional who really knows how to get the job done.” She directed and lobbied the successful campaigns for both laws.
As a non-government observer (NGO) at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Susan participated in working groups. She wrote the petition brief to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to halt trade in exotic birds from Senegal and participated in lobbying for marine mammals and wild-caught birds in Washington, D.C. She has researched and written in-depth analyses of white-tailed deer, Canada geese and black bears.
Susan has honed her expertise in regulatory capture — the coziness of government wildlife regulators with ammunition, firearms, archery, and fur trade associations — and unseemly conservation/ammo/firearms “partnerships” that dominate U.S. wildlife policy. Urban Wildlife Series: State Wildlife Action Plans and Wildlife-Use Trade Associations (link) focuses on the involvement of partnered corporate conservation groups, trade, and green washing.
Susan attended Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and graduated with a BA in education from Monmouth University. She lives in Fair Haven. To reach Sue directly, click here.
Photo credit: Bob Bielk/Staff Photographer / Bob Bielk/Asbury Park Press – used with permission/licensed.
Sandra Obi Community Cat Program Director
Sandra has had a lifelong affinity, love and appreciation for cats. Family videos show her, a mere child, deftly handling a feisty feral. “I’d sit for hours studying and earning the trust of a community of cats near my grandmother’s house,” says Obi.
A transplanted Australian, Sandra became a resident of Trenton, NJ in 2004. She knew that cats roamed the city. Then she saw the kittens. “I realized the adults had no caregivers and that something had to be done.” Sandra found two knowledgeable mentors to guide her through Trap-Neuter-Return practices. Spaying and neutering 75 cats, or 100% of the population, led to a small and stable colony.
To help other abandoned and feral cats in the city, Sandra founded Trenton TNR. The group arranged weekly transport to a low-cost clinic, transporting 20 felines every week for nearly three years. In 2009, one of her mentors told her about a position at Animal Protection League of New Jersey (APLNJ). Sandra uses her teaching degree to educate the public on the benefits of TNR and has created APLNJ’s three-hour training workshop. The workshop is based on the Neighborhood Cats manual, supplemented by Sandra’s own hands-on experience and recommendations.
Sandra’s achievements are impressive. She has orchestrated a mass TNR project involving 125 cats, remarkably completing the program in two weeks. She has applied TNR to many hundreds of felines, in the process encountering all manner of situations. Her TNR work is extensive, hands-on, and successful.
Sandra is married, with 3 children, 6 indoor cats (all rescues from various TNR projects), and, as evidence that TNR, over time, works to eliminate cat populations, after 10 years her TNR’d colony is no more. To reach Sandra directly, click here.
Doris Lin Legal Affairs Director
Doris Lin is an animal rights attorney, the Director of Legal Affairs for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, the BEAR Group and a member of the steering committee of the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey.
Doris has worked for a variety of animal groups, including the Animal Protection PAC, Animal Protection League of NJ, The Bear Education And Resource (BEAR) Group, The Humane Society of the US, and the Animal Welfare Institute. She has also founded two student animal rights groups and served on the Board of the Boston Vegetarian Society.
As an attorney, she represented APLNJ and the BEAR Group in a lawsuit against the state of NJ, successfully invalidating the state’s bear hunt plan in 2007. She is also a former chair of the NJ State Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee and is the author of “Bear Hunt Controversy Shines the Spotlight on New Jersey’s Wildlife Law,” published in New Jersey Lawyer Magazine. She has also worked for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Doris has been an animal rights activist for over 25 years, vegetarian for nearly as long, and vegan for over 20 years. She shares a home with three humans, two rabbits and four guinea pigs, and is a life member of the House Rabbit Society.
Doris holds a B.S. in Applied Biological Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center. To reach Doris directly, click here.
Doreen Frega Special Projects Director
As APLNJ's Special Projects Director, Doreen Frega's responsibilities are varied. She is a passionate advocate for the animals and attacks every project with determination and tenacity. Doreen is the voice for New Jersey's Canada geese, who every year are the target of a mass killing program by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). From requesting USDA FOIA records, to pouring over those records to reaching out to all the towns and businesses who contract with the USDA to kill geese, meeting with them and offering nonlethal options for dealing with conflicts to engaging the public and organizing protests, Doreen is a one-woman dynamo.
Doreen is also responsible for signing APLNJ up for public outreach throughout the year at town fairs, festivals and special events. She, along with a small army of dedicated and hard-working volunteers staff information tables at up to 90 public events annually. Education is the key to change and Doreen makes sure APLNJ is known from Atlantic County to Sussex County and every place in between.
To reach Doreen directly, click here.
Laurie Perla Legislative Liaison
Laurie Perla’s been passionate about animals for all of her life. She joined APLNJ and our sister organization League of Humane Voters of New Jersey (LOHV-NJ), in 2007. Laurie’s been actively involved in rescuing animals and placing them in loving forever homes.
She’s led several successful campaigns that protected animals. As APLNJ’s Legislative Liaison, Laurie has lobbied for and ushered in the Humane Cosmetics Act and the trunk fighting (outlawing dog fights in car trunks) laws. She continues to work tirelessly with legislators to introduce and pass bills that will improve animals’ lives.
Laurie earned a master’s degree from St. John’s University, is a certified public account and enjoys the martial arts, achieving a 2nd-degree black belt. She’s vegan and lives in Monmouth County with her husband, two wonderful sons, and three rescued dogs. Laurie has shared her home with many rescued dogs and cats over the years. Her sons have been vegetarians for many years. Her love for animals has been with her since she was a little girl feeding stray cats in front her house and saving her allowance money to pay for their food. While she does not impose her views on people, she always seeks the opportunity to educate them about animal abuse and exploitation.
While many people have told her that her furry family members are lucky to have her, her response has always been, “I am lucky to have them.” To reach Laurie directly, click here.
In Memoriam
Matt Fancera Friend, colleague and Advisory Board member
In 2003, APLNJ lost Matt – a friend, colleague and Advisory Board member. Click here to learn more about Matt’s activism and his legacy for the animals.
Ben Crimaudo Friend, colleague and Advisory Board member
We miss our dear friend and advisory board member, Ben Crimaudo. He was an amazing activist, who brought his incredible wit and intelligence to everything he did.
Ben’s humor livened up our meetings. At one meeting, rescued turkeys gobbled at his jokes. It’s true.
Ben retired in 2002 and moved to Maine, where he continued his community affairs and animal rights activism with his wife, Anne Crimaudo (APLNJ board member).
He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Ben passed away on July 12, 2016.
Elaine Dunn Previous director of our black bear speakers’ bureau
Elaine was passionate about black bears and educating residents, so heading up our black bear speakers' bureau was a natural choice.
Prior to focusing her advocacy efforts on black bear protection, Elaine taught middle school social studies in Mahwah, New Jersey, and earned her master’s in counseling. As peer mediation advisor, she trained students in conflict resolution. Elaine hosted seminars familiarizing staff with the necessary mediation skills and served as mediator between staff members. “I planted the seeds of compassion in my students by consistently demonstrating a love and respect for them as well as for animals.”
Through four decades of teaching, Elaine volunteered at local animal shelters and continues therapy visits with her companion, an amazing Newfoundland named Gretchen. Elaine and Gretchen visit Alzheimer facilities, hospitals, and libraries. “The therapeutic effect of animals upon people never ceases to astonish,” says Elaine. “That bond is as essential as it is natural. Industries that exploit animals, such as the firearms lobby, try to desensitize, to serve their own purposes.” Elaine was an active member of a DVRT (domestic violence response) team serving three towns in Passaic County.
What led Elaine to working in behalf of animals? Her maternal grandmother had demonstrated a powerful connection with animals. Elaine felt the same way. “From a very early age, I felt compelled to work with those who perhaps needed protection, guidance, or a friend. I became an advocate for black bears when I noticed a ‘stop the bear hunt’ sign on the window of my dog groomer’s shop. I then spoke with several people who lived in ‘bear country’; to a person, all were appalled at the possibility of hunting black bear, as well as hunting any animal.” She discovered the BEAR Group in West Milford and became an active member. Her objective was to stop the bear hunt and to educate New Jersey residents in “Bear Smart” practices. “We can live in harmony with nature,” says Elaine. “With the black bear, ignorance is the worst enemy.”
Our dear friend, staff member and volunteer, Elaine Dunn passed on January 7, 2020.