New Parsippany mayor opens town hall to shelter cats during storm

PARSIPPANY — Less than a week into office, Mayor Michael Soriano is allowing stray animals to roam the halls of the township municipal building.

Seven cats spent the night in a warm hallway outside of council chambers after a power failure at the township animal shelter on Thursday afternoon created potentially hazardous conditions for some of the animals there.

With a windy snowstorm still blowing outside, and a forecast for extended cold, Soriano transformed the municipal building into a temporary shelter.

"They were looking for options and I said - bring them here," said Soriano, who was inaugurated on Monday by Gov.-elect Phil Murphy.

Animal Control Officer Heidi Mooney said the Parsippany Boulevard shelter lost power about 4 p.m. Thursday during a spot outage along the Route 46 east corridor that also includes the police station.

"We gave it a couple of minutes, and then we stared thinking how long this was going to last, knowing it was freezing outside," Mooney said.

The police station has a backup generator, but the shelter does not. Calls were made to shelters in Denville and Montville, both of which offered limited space for dogs.

"It was great that Denville and Montville stepped up for us," Soriano said.

Power was restored by about 7 p.m., but Mooney was still concerned the power could go out overnight. The dogs, she said, would be safe in Parsippany's main-building kennel, which could retain heat.

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But the cats were housed in a trailer that "is not very well insulated, and the walls are very thin," Mooney said, "There were three of us there, and we were discussing who would take which animals home, and then the mayor called and said 'bring 'em over'."

The seven cats, crated with food, litter, water and blankets, weathered the stormy night without incident. By 7:30 a.m. Friday, the mayor had not only opened the municipal building, but had opened his new office to Miller, a 3-year-old black-and-white charmer who took up residence on an empty bookshelf.

As Soriano's daughter, Eleanor, played with Miller while awaiting a delayed school opening, Mooney and assistant animal control officer Kim Jensen arrived in vans to transport the seven cats back to the shelter.

Soriano stressed that Miller and Trill, a shy 1-year-old, were available for adoption.

"We would love to get them permanent homes," said the mayor, who stressed humane treatment of shelter pets as an issue during his campaign.

The storm in general was a learning experience for Soriano, who started his Thursday morning before dawn by visiting the Department of Public Works before it dispatched snow plows and other emergency vehicles to cope with the storm.

"I respect people who work hard and I wanted to shake their hands for what they were about to do," the mayor said. "There were 50 or 60 people out there the roads, and one of the problems was that as soon as they were plowing a road, the wind was blowing it back on."

Soriano also was advised of at least more option that was available to him to care for the shelter animals.

"I'm still learning," he said. "I found out later that Parsippany Rescue and Recovery would have come over and hooked up a generator."

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.