Man Charged With Killing Geese In Toms River Parking Lot

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Brick Township man has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with the deaths of five Canada geese that police say were deliberately run over in a Toms River parking lot.

Quintin Alec-Manning, 20, was charged Thursday with five counts of third-degree animal cruelty, one count for each dead goose in the Indian Head Shopping Center parking lot incident, said Jillian Messina, media specialist for the Toms River Police Department. The state Division of Fish and Wildlife's Bureau of Law Enforcement will be issuing summonses as well, she said.

Messina said Toms River Police Officers Henry Farnkopf and Ryan Parente took the initial report from witnesses that the family of geese, including at least three goslings, had been deliberately hit by a driver. Parente, an evidence technician, took photos of the scene.

Officer Travis Seaman, one of Toms River Police Department's designated humane law enforcement officers, spoke with multiple business owners and patrons at the shopping center who provided information that led to identifying Alec-Manning as the suspect, she said.

Seaman, along with Conservation Officer Jean Mutone of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife found Alec-Manning and arrested him without incident; he was taken to the Toms River municipal jail, Messina said.

The investigation was assisted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, NJ DEP Fish and Wildlife Conservation Police and members of the public "who provided valuable information," she said.

Third-degree animal cruelty — charged when an animal dies as a result of an act of animal cruelty — is a felony in New Jersey and carries the potential of 3 to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Canada geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds under agreements with various nations, including Canada. Under the act, the federal government has set regulations that make it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid federal permit, according to a Taft Law report.

Penalties for killing the geese can range up to six months in jail and include fines; a Manasquan man was fined $1,000 in 2009 for shooting and killing a Canada goose that was pooping on his deck, NJ.com reported.

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.