Michele Shiber – Bio

Officer Michele Shiber is a NJ state-certified Animal Control Officer currently working for Montclair Township as Senior Animal Control Officer and Supervisor of the Animal Control Department. She also serves as the Operations Chief of Montclair Township Animal Shelter. 

Michele has a good relationship with the Township residents and can often be seen educating the public about domestics and wildlife issues and she often receives invitations for speaking engagements at boy/girl scouting events, senior centers, National Night Out and other local community events. Michele strives to stay abreast of current animal laws and ensures that her team participates in continuing education opportunities. Her biggest goal is for Animal Control Officers to be officially recognized as Emergency First Responders, since ACOs are often on the front lines with police, fire and EMTs. 

Michele is an active member of and one of the leads ACOs of the Bergen County Animal Response Team (CART), an active member of the Bergen County and River Vale Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Deputy Coordinator of Montclair Township Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Michele is also an active member of the New Jersey Certified Animal Control Officer Association {NJCACOA) and is a nominee for Northern Regional Director of NJCACOA. She is a Board member of National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), Chair of NACA Disaster Committee, and member of NACA Training Committee. She is also a Regional Partner of Code 3 Associates Animal Control Officer Coalition and an Advisory Board member of Midwest Animal Services Academy Advisory.

In the past, Michele has worked as Animal Control Officer/Animal Cruelty Investigator in Eastern Bergen County, NJ where she supervised the ACO team and managed Bergen County’s second no-kill animal shelter, responsible for everything within the shelter: animal care, assisting with shelter functions, managing volunteers, adoptions, fundraising, event preparation & participation, etc. She also held positions of Cliffside Park OEM Animal Shelter Deputy Coordinator & Fort Lee OEM Animal Shelter Coordinator. With her CART, established, supervised, and maintained the only pet-friendly shelter for displaced Bergen County residents during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 at Bergen County Law & Public Safety Institute in Mahwah. Worked together with the Red Cross to ensure residents & their pets felt “at-home” despite being away from their homes. Due to logistics during/after the storm, Michele also resided at the emergency shelter for the duration of the sheltering operations.

Michele is certified in Pet CPR & First Aid, a member of the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association and completed Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research’s Oiled Wildlife Workshop training & is a member of their Oil Spill Response Team. Michele has also served as a case manager for Shelter our Pets, a nonprofit corporation that provides a safe haven for the pets of victims of domestic violence who are fleeing their abusive situations. Michele is certified in many FEMA Incident Command Systems and Disaster Preparedness and National Incident Management Systems, and she participates in continuing education as classes/seminars/training becomes available to stay abreast on new procedures & the best possible methods to quickly assist in any situation in any capacity when needed.