Monmouth County SPCA Chief Resigns Amid Allegations of Racist Texts

Monmouth County SPCA Chief Victor “Buddy” Amato resigned Wednesday, hours after a website reported on allegations that he sent racially and sexually biased text messages to coworkers, according to published reports.

BuzzFeed News published a report on the lawsuit containing those allegations Wednesday afternoon.

According to that report, the lawsuit was filed March 2 by Sue DesMarais, who began working with the county SPCA in August as a volunteer investigator.

“I have never in my life seen anything that bad,” DesMarais of Jackson told BuzzFeed News.

In one text, he allegedly warned his staff “about the dangers of patrolling “racially mixed areas,’’’ the website said.

According to News12 New Jersey, the Monmouth County SPCA President and CEO Jerry Rosenthal released a statement that said:

“The Monmouth County SPCA has a zero tolerance policy against discrimination and harassment. These allegations have been taken very seriously and have been under a thorough investigation.”

Amato told the television station he already had plans to retire in six months, but “as a result of this,” he thought it would be better to leave immediately.

He also told News 12 that his “greatest reward is the thousands of animals I have saved.”

Amato told the Asbury Park Press that he would not comment on the lawsuit or the contents of texts, but said the messages were private and reached a person who was not meant to receive them.

“They were just a bunch of jokes,” Amato told the Press. “Jokes going back and forth between a bunch of the guys.”

The lawsuit says that after DesMarais alerted the county SPCA board about the texts, she was told it would be better for her to stop working with the agency, but Amato was allowed to keep his job, the newspaper reported.