JACKSON – The Jackson Animal Shelter has been receiving more animals from Toms River following the closure of that facility, county officials confirmed during a recent tour.
The Toms River Animal Shelter was closed on June 6. All employees were put on administrative leave except the one who does animal control – responding to calls from residents about stray or hurt animals.
Toms River Mayor Daniel Rodrick promised for months that he wouldn’t close his community’s shelter and pushed for the Ocean County Board of Health to take it over. After the closure, he said “The fact is the facility does not meet the Board of Health’s standards and must be shut temporarily for construction upgrades.” He then had a list of things the shelter needed, such as dog runs and ventilation.
The closure left residents and animal lovers to ponder, “is the county ready to handle this influx?”
The Jackson Animal Shelter located at 615 Freemont Avenue is taking in additional animals that were surrendered to the recently closed Toms River Shelter. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
When asked what the Jackson Animal Shelter’s maximum capacity was, Brian Lippai, the chief of administrative services/public information officer told The Jackson Times, “It varies. There are 12 adoptable dog runs and we have another 13-14 for hosting, and extra pens for out of season dogs which helps in case of emergencies we put them there. There is some wiggle room for us.”
Lippai explained what the impact was of Jackson taking in additional animals from Toms River’s shelter: “the impact hasn’t been too bad in comparison to last year.”
“The public forgets that we were always contracted with Toms River, so people from Toms River would surrender (animals) here and we would take them in for all these years,” said Shelter Manager Mary Alano, who has been with the shelter for 16 years.
“That had to be about 80% of the animals that came in here. That is where our numbers would be larger in the amount of ferals that would come in,” Lippai added. “Sure, it is having an impact but we don’t know how much.”
“We’ll have to wait and see how much as the average is done yearly. Right now, we are not seeing a tremendous increase,” Alano said.
Lippai said, “it is typically our busy time anyway. The summer always brings our numbers up and the numbers fluctuate. As quickly as the animals come in, they may go right out. As to how many animals we have in the facility at any one time, that is hard to say.”
“There are so many animals that are in holding that have to wait, kittens that go into foster (homes), animals that are waiting to get surgery to be spayed or neutered. We have seized cases that can be moved out and reclaims,” he said.
Lippai said the facility could hold approximately 30 dogs “and with the cats it could range anywhere from 48 to over 100,” Alano added.
“With these cages we can always make more space if we have to. We could always bring in a lot of other cages that we have,” Lippai added.
“We try not to use the top compartments if we don’t have to,” Alano said. “People can see them better in the lower levels and when we have to, we will have the tops full in order to get them out to the public so that they can be adopted. We try to do that for most of the cat wards. We usually have the top cages unoccupied but they are there just in case.”
Current Status With Toms River
The Toms River Township Council voted to open up negotiations for the county to take over their shelter. The Board of Health also voted this way.
Meanwhile, residents signed a petition calling for the shelter to remain under Toms River control.
There was a clause built into the county’s side of the deal that if the petition had enough signatures, the county would not take on the shelter.
The petition was proven to be valid during a recent Toms River Council meeting. However, the shelter was closed by the town administration.
“It is our understanding now that Toms River is now requesting shared services. That is the new game plan and we are working out details of that and that is why it is sitting on the table right now,” Lippai said.
Dogs are barking to be adopted at the Jackson Animal Shelter which is also taking on some of the sheltering that took place at the recently closed Toms River Animal Shelter. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
He noted, “There hasn’t really been any new developments as far as a shared services agreement,” he said.
The Jackson Times asked why an agreement wasn’t made prior to the township closing the shelter. Lippai could not answer that question.
“That is a question for the folks in Toms River,” Lippai replied. Mayor Rodrick and Business Administrator Jonathan Salonis were contacted for comment for this article about the status of the shelter negotiations but they did not respond to that inquiry.
“We are here to do the right thing for the animals. It is our job. If Toms River has decided to close the shelter or not, we have already been contracted with them so really, they could do anything they want on that side but we’ll always take the animals because of that contract. Which is why nothing has really changed that much for us other than we are going to see a bit more of an influx of animals,” Lippai said.
He stressed that there was no solid plan in place with Ocean County concerning reconstruction at the Animal Shelter which was the reason Mayor Rodrick gave the public as to why the shelter had been closed down.
“Not at the moment. We haven’t even done a walk-through there yet. The Board hasn’t even seen as much as a shared agreement at this time. They have nothing in their hands. Our Board meetings are twice a month and the next one is August 8,” he added.
Lippai said, “I know a lot of people are anxious to see what is going to happen. It has been tabled at the moment and things will be decided in the near future. There are some things we know will have to be upgraded to meet our standards. The outside dog runs were the big thing.”
He said staffing issues would be among the subjects discussed through the development of a shared services arrangement. He compared this to similar arrangements with animal control services with municipalities. “We have hired one employee from Toms River (Animal Shelter) already and I am sure we would entertain any other employees from there should we take over the shelter. What we do here is that our employees go to other shelters at times.”
Felix the Cat was in need of a home when this photo was taken. Hopefully, he’s found one but if you wish to learn more about Felix and other cats and dogs in need of homes, contact the Jackson Animal Shelter. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
He noted that the Stafford Animal Shelter “is a little smaller than us. They don’t get the volume that we do as they have smaller communities. That is why that shelter has traditionally been a little smaller. If we do need space we can transfer the animals down there.” He said the Southern Ocean County shelter is scheduled for refurbishing work next year. He also noted the existence of a Barnegat shelter where animals can also be placed.
Ocean County Animal Shelter North also known as the Jackson Animal Shelter is located at 615 Freemont Avenue and can be reached by e-mailing nocaf@ochd.org and by calling 732-657-8086.
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