Group Gathering Signatures To Repeal Toms River Animal Shelter Lease Ordinance

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A group of Toms River residents is gathering signatures to repeal the ordinance passed that approved leasing the Toms River Animal Shelter property to Ocean County.

The Toms River Township Council approved the ordinance in a 4-3 vote at the April 24 council after a public hearing punctuated by Councilman Tom Nivison and Mayor Daniel Rodrick shouting at each other.

Nivison was one of the no votes on the ordinance, drawing loud applause from supporters of the shelter, who want it to remain under operation by Toms River.

He is one of three council members elected alongside Rodrick in November, and had previously voted with Rodrick on a number of issues including the controversial ordinance that eliminated two captains' positions from the roster of the police department.

That ordinance sparked a successful petition drive that led to the council repealing the ordinance, though Rodrick said he would not permit the captains' petitions to be filled and said he agreed to the repeal to avoid an expensive legal battle.

Like the police staffing ordinance repeal, the petition needs 3,079 signatures to force the Toms River Township Council to repeal the animal shelter lease ordinance or put the matter to a vote of the township's residents.

The petitioners have until May 13 to gather the signatures, which must be from Toms River residents who are registered to vote. They are collecting signatures Wednesday and Thursday at Castle Park, across from the police station, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and at the Toms River Elks Lodge at 600 Washington St. from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.

Registered Toms River voters also can sign the petition at Manforti Chiropractor, 541 Lakehurst Road, from 10 a.m.-noon and 3 p.m.-5 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday and from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday, as well as May 6, 8, and 10 from 10 a.m.-noon and 3 p.m.-5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to noon on May 11.

The ordinance to lease the shelter to the county comes after three months of controversy that started shortly after Rodrick visited the shelter in mid-January.

Rodrick has blasted how the shelter was operating, angry that the front door was locked when he arrived on a Saturday morning, and holding up 2021 euthanasia information for Toms River and Ocean County to insist the township shelter was killing animals at a higher rate than the county.

At the April 24 meeting, however, Michael Cohen, a part-time kennel aide, said the Toms River shelter had earned no-kill status as defined by the Associated Humane Societies in 2022 and 2023 because of its low euthanasia rates.

"We're able to afford all of our intakes the necessary time they need to find adoptable homes," he said.

Rodrick also has insisted the shelter was not closing, though supporters of the shelter say transferring its operations to the county is effectively the same as closing it because the county shelter system operates differently from the Toms River shelter.

Ocean County operates two animal facilities — one in Jackson, one in Stafford Township — and only takes in dogs, puppies, cats and kittens for potential adoption. The county has a third facility it uses as an emergency backup for the main operations, such as the Brick Township animal hoarding in late 2022 where 180 dogs and cats were removed from a home. (That criminal case is still pending.)

The Toms River shelter has handled an array of animals beyond canines and felines, including a pet pig, ferrets, guinea pigs, and wildlife. Its staff also responded when a rabbit hoarding situation was uncovered in 2023, taking in nearly 20 bunnies, which the Ocean County shelter is not equipped to do.

Ocean County officials have declined to comment on the shelter issue beyond confirming discussions of the county leasing it had taken place. As of April 30, the county had not taken formal action at either the Board of Health, which runs the county's shelter system, or at the Board of Commissioners, to move forward with a lease.

Nivison, in opposing the shelter ordinance on April 24, was critical of the lease presented to the council hours before the meeting.

"I have a lot of problems with this lease," he said, starting with the 30-year term that would lease it to the county for $1. "I have problems with the county taking it over."

Nivison sought to have the lease tabled, but Rodrick shouted over him, trying to get Nivison's motion rejected without a vote. The motion to table ultimately was rejected. (You can watch the public hearing on the ordinance on YouTube, where resident Paul Williams has been reposting the council meetings since January after they were removed from Toms River's YouTube channel.)

Rodrick has contended the shelter was poorly run and cited 2022 reporting on a council meeting where people rallied to fight the euthanization of two dogs and raised concerns about how much attention and socialization the dogs were receiving.

Following that July meeting, the shelter manager and a second employee were removed from their roles.

The shelter had just two animal control officers and some part-time employees at that time to handle kennel cleaning, dog-walking and other duties in caring for the animals.

While staffing had been increased slightly over the 2022 levels it was still very limited and meant there were times the shelter's front door was locked for security reasons while employees were in the back cleaning kennels or caring for the animals.

Rodrick has been critical of the hours Toms River allotted for adoptions. The hours — 1 p.m.-4 p.m. weekdays and weekends — are the same as those of the county shelter and similar to Jersey Shore Animal Shelter in Brick, a privately run nonprofit facility. Popcorn Park in Lacey, run by the Associated Humane Societies, has slightly longer hours of noon to 5 p.m. daily.

Rodrick also blasted the Toms River shelter over a lack of promotion of animals available for adoption, but sources with knowledge of the situation said the township's social media policies — which limit content access to the township-owned social media pages to designated employees and barred the use of cellphones while on duty, including for taking photos of the animals — hamstrung shelter employees from effective promotion.

At the March 27 meeting when the shelter ordinance was introduced, Rodrick said the shelter was costing Toms River $600,000 per year — after insisting for two months that cost wasn't the issue and that the township could run the shelter for two years on the strength of the $1 million donation by the Pyne estate to support it.

Patch has attempted to quantify the costs of the shelter through Open Public Records Act requests as there is no full accounting in the township's budget. During an interview in February, county officials said the county shelter facilities are run as a service to county residents.