Western Monmouth Animal Control is facing criticism after a resident’s emergency call about a sick kitten on Feb. 3 did not result in an in-person response, according to a resident who raised the issue at the Manalapan Township meeting on Feb. 25.
Andrea Burica, a longtime feline advocate and volunteer with Rescue Ridge, a nonprofit animal welfare organization, spoke up at the meeting. She said that a resident had discovered an ailing kitten on his property, saying “This kitten’s eyes were encrusted shut, the nasal airway was completely covered with mucus and she was frozen into the snow on the ground.”
Burica said that Western Animal Control did not come and that they told the caller “they would not be responding to the call due to the fact that people living on his block feed the feral cats.”
Burica said after the meeting, “They responded by calling the person back. They did not respond to the scene as they should have. The law is, you have to pick up a sick or injured animal.”
Bella Kireyeva, another Manalapan resident, says she too has had interactions with Western Monmouth Animal Control when neighbors called them with complaints.
“I have had them come to my house for cats, for [my] feeding the cats,” Kireyeva said.
Now, she says of her neighbors, “they know me, and they stopped complaining about me.”
Kireyeva traps, neuters and releases the cats she cares for and said she wishes the township had a trap-neuter-return (TNR) program to help alleviate the expense.
Western Monmouth Animal Control previously provided animal control services to Freehold Borough until that relationship ended in 2023.
At the time, Freehold residents complained to the council that the agency was not responding in person to calls that residents believed warranted on-site visits, according to Annette Jordan, a councilwoman in Freehold Township.
Jordan said, “…a group of residents [came] to the council about concerns about our animal control services, and we listened, and you know, we took action, and so we’ve switched over to Monmouth County SPCA and instituted our TNR program, and it’s been working quite well.”
Rescue Ridge, the organization that helped with the kitten in the Feb. 3 incident, is a central New Jersey animal rescue that operates as a nonprofit and is run entirely by volunteers.
Jordan added, “When residents come and have a concern or a challenge, it’s really beneficial for the elected officials to listen to them.”
Western Monmouth Animal Control did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
