South Jersey woman allegedly abandoned five dogs in woods

A South Jersey woman is facing criminal charges in three Atlantic County towns stemming from her alleged mistreatment of several dogs, including three puppies that had to be euthanized. 

Jodi Wozniak, 45, of Galloway Township, was charged with animal cruelty, fraudulent use of a credit card and theft of services in Linwood, the Atlantic County Prosector's Office said Saturday. Galloway police charged her with animal cruelty and Absecon police charged her with theft of services.

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Investigators said five German Shepherds owned by Wozniak allegedly were abandoned in a wooded area in Galloway. Some of the dogs were found tethered to a tree. Others had been left inside kennels without food or water. The dogs allegedly had been left on their own for at least 15 hours, prosecutors said.

The dogs were brought to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter, where they were put on protective hold. At the time, Wozniak allegedly refused to surrender custody of the dogs.

Wozniak also recently had brought five German Shepherd puppies to the Linwood Animal Hospital, where they were treated for the canine parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that can cause acute gastrointestinal illness, investigators said. Wozniak allegedly used a stolen credit card to pay for some of the animal hospital services. 

One of the surviving puppies has been surrendered by Wozniak and is still receiving treatment at the animal hospital.

Wozniak also brought a puppy into the Absecon Animal Hospital last month for treatment for an obstruction in its digestive tract, prosecutors said. Wozniak allegedly did not return to pay the hospital bill and abandoned the puppy after she was given an estimate of the cost for treatment.

Wozniak also was arrested last week for allegedly trespassing onto a Galloway property that she had been evicted from earlier this month.