Toms River Animal Shelter Under Investigation After Complaints

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Operations of the Toms River Township animal shelter are under investigation after township officials received a number of complaints about how shelter personnel were handling animals and the public.

Complaints that had been brewing for months were brought to the Toms River Township Council last week.

Among the concerns were the designation of dogs as aggressive and potentially unadoptable, which some of the animal advocates alleged was based in part on perceptions based on the dogs' breeds.

Two dogs in particular have drawn extensive interest in recent months, and advocates told the council they had offered to take in the two dogs to address possible behavioral issues, only to be told repeatedly that the dogs were not available for adoption.

Maria Maruca, who was appointed in February to oversee Toms River's human services department, including the animal shelter, on Thursday said the dogs in question — including one named Snoop, whose plight had drawn widespread attention with a GoFundMe campaign and a Change petition demanding he not be euthanized — said both dogs are available for adoption, but the shelter is being careful about the adoptions.

"One was not adoptable at one point because of medical issues," Maruca said, but both are now available. One has a chronic condition that will need medication or medical treatment, she said.

"It has to be something that's in the best interest of the animal they're trying to place," she said.

Maruca declined to say much about the investigation at the shelter, saying it is "a personnel matter" and said officials are focusing on operations during the shelter's operating hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for starters.

One of the criticisms leveled during the council meeting is the animals, dogs in particular, are left alone in the kennels for more than 12 hours a day, when the shelter is closed, which animal advocates say leads to kennel anxiety and can make them seem aggressive.

But other complaints involved the response of shelter workers to phone calls from the public, including to people calling seeking help with stray cats.

Maria Cymanski, who serves as the animal control officer in five towns, including Barnegat and Waretown, and works with the Associated Humane Society at Popcorn Park in Lacey Township, said they have been receiving an abundance of calls from Toms River residents who have been turned away by staff at the Toms River shelter.

Cymanski said residents are being told that the cats are "probably feral," and that they should just be left to nature running its course, when it is impossible to tell whether a cat is truly feral even based solely on how they respond to being trapped.

Cat populations have increased significantly in the last two years, as trap-neuter-release programs lapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Maruca said Rich Barbosa, the shelter's manager, is out for "a couple of days," but that the town is looking into how the shelter operates. She said until the primary operations are addressed, the idea of using volunteers to help address the dogs being alone in their pens for long hours isn't something they can look at right away.