Mayor says changes at Toms River, NJ Animal Shelter to help pets

🐶 Toms River's mayor waived adoption fees at the township animal shelter

🐶 People wonder what his motive is for the shelter's future

🐶 Mayor Rodrick said it's in the best interest of the animal to be adopted

TOMS RIVER – Despite recent moves by new Mayor Dan Rodrick, the township animal shelter is not in imminent danger of closing.

Supporters of the shelter became alarmed about the shelter's future after Rodrick announced he was eliminating adoption fees and was putting a hold on new animals being taken into the shelter on Oak Avenue. The mayor said that a closure is not imminent but acknowledged that it is something that could happen if things don't improve at the shelter.

"The shelter right now for the last six years has been a source of contention with folks that are animal rights activists, and rightly so. It was very poorly run, not clean. And right now, I just was sworn in and we're nearly at full capacity," Rodrick told New Jersey 101.5.

Open only by appointment

One of the reasons the Republican who took office on Jan. 1 sees as a cause of the high capacity is that the shelter has been open to the public by appointment only. He wants to see the shelter open until 7 p.m. three nights a week until more animals are adopted. He calls it a form of cruelty for animals to remain there so long.

According to the shelter's page on the township website, the shelter's hours are 1 to 4 p.m. daily including weekends.

"We have animals there for years that have not been adopted," Rodrick said. "It's cruel to leave animals in a cage for several years." He also looked to bring attention to some of the shelter's longest residents.

Story continues after the gallery.

Mayor needs help from staff

Social media is filled with concern from animal advocates.

"Now there's this political force of people that were tied to the previous administration who were just recently relieved of their duty who are putting out false information on animal lover groups that we're sending them off to the glue factory and kill them in a week, which is the most preposterous, ridiculous and mean spirited thing. No animals are being killed," Rodrick said.

If these steps don't reduce the population, Rodrick said he could consider closing down the facility altogether. He said the staff at the shelter who have been reluctant to change the hours hold the key to its future.

"If these folks do not open their doors, and they're unwilling to stay open that way, then I probably would go permanently to the county. In the meantime, I like to just try to fix a very broken system that is most certainly not serving the animals that are there."

Disagreement with the mayor

Roderick said he has brought some people into the shelter from his team like Drew Chabot, whom he describes an an "animal lover." Chabot has been tasked by Rodrick to work with charities like Pitties and Pals and other similar groups. The goal is for Chabot to pick up some ideas from them to improve operations at the shelter.

A long-time volunteer who asked not to be identified in this story told New Jersey 101.5 that she disagrees with the mayor that opening by appointment only is a problem with adoptions.

"They have certain times of the day that they're open for appointments and that's all week and on the weekends. So I don't see how it's not accessible for people to go in and look at the animals," the volunteer said, adding that the staff is small compared to a shelter like the Monmouth County SPCA, which is open at noon daily for walk-in adoptions.

The volunteer also disagreed with Rodrick's assessment that the shelter is overcrowded.

"Sure, there are times when there are a lot of animals and there's not a lot of room but in my experience, it's not like they've had to turn away animals because they were so overcrowded," the volunteer said.

The volunteer said the talk among the volunteers and staff is that animals will have to go to the Ocean County Animal Facility in Jackson, which will make it overcrowded.

"The feeling is that he wants to clear the shelter and then ultimately close it, which would not be a good thing for the Toms River people or the animals in the area," the volunteer said.

Supporters of the shelter are planning to attend the next Township Council meeting on Jan. 31 at the Toms River Municipal Complex. The agenda for the meeting has not yet been posted.

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