{"id":10329,"date":"2026-01-16T04:52:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=10329"},"modified":"2026-01-16T07:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:17:09","slug":"toms-river-mayor-says-town-will-not-operate-animal-shelter-after-council-vote-county-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2026\/01\/toms-river-mayor-says-town-will-not-operate-animal-shelter-after-council-vote-county-responds\/","title":{"rendered":"Toms River Mayor Says Town Will Not Operate Animal Shelter After Council Vote, County Responds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River Animal Shelter (Source: Toms River Township)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Toms River municipal animal shelter will not reopen under township control, Mayor Daniel Rodrick pledged Thursday, a day after the township council narrowly passed a resolution severing a shared services agreement that would allow the Ocean County Health Department to take over the now-shuttered facility under a lease structure.<\/p>\n

The council voted 4-3, reflecting the balance of council members aligned with and opposed to the mayor, to pass the resolution. Resolutions, under Toms River\u2019s form of government, cannot be vetoed by the mayor. A previous council, in 2024, passed an ordinance \u2013 which can be vetoed \u2013 authorizing the shared services agreement but later repealed it after a public petition campaign. While the resolution passed Wednesday night notionally cancels the existing lease agreement that would allow the county to access the shelter, the jurisdiction of the council to carry out other facets of the resolution, such as directing the business administrator and township employees to develop a budget and maintenance plan to reopen the facility, remained questionable.<\/p>\n

The shelter was opened as the only municipally-controlled shelter in Ocean County; all of the other municipalities utilize either county facilities or nonprofit shelter organizations, such as the Associated Humane Societies. The unique arrangement drew criticism from some members of the public several years ago, with a number of advocates arguing that there was insufficient space for animals and dog runs had not been installed. Shelter employees, who defended the facility and said it met codes and operated with the welfare of the animals as a top priority, were laid off after a plan was announced by Rodrick to transfer the facility to the county. The facility has remained closed ever since as the county conducted studies looking into what repairs, additions and maintenance was necessary to bring it into parity with their other two facilities in Manahawkin and Jackson.<\/p>\n

The county health department received bids from architectural and engineering firms Jan. 5 that estimated the cost between $5 million and $6 million, though some of that amount would be required only to allow the facility to be operated in line with county-distinct specifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly see that there\u2019s a need for the additional facility and shelter,\u201d Daniel E. Regenye, Public Health Coordinator for OCHD, told Shorebeat. \u201cIf Toms River is planning on not operating it, we\u2019re able to do so, just from a need perspective. If they want it back and they can operate it, we have no problem canceling it out and letting them do their own thing again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regenye said the county has spent some funds on the facility since the lease was executed under the previous shared services agreement, which would have to be reconciled at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to go in, clear it out, and kind of organize it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working with some architects and engineers, and we\u2019re keeping the building operational with utilities, security, and allowing our employees to access it within our system. Those are the costs that we have incurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regenye said the facility is in need of modifications in order to operate within the county system, referring to the bids that were received earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Rodrick said even if the shared services agreement is canceled, he will not allow the facility to be operated at taxpayer expense when the county is willing to bear the cost of upgrades. He also accused his opponents on the council of wanting to staff the facility with political allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to take it on, I wouldn\u2019t attempt to do it,\u201d said Rodrick. \u201cWhy would I look to invest $6 million into something the county is willing to invest in? I could probably pave 80 roads for that price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodrick said he began investigating the shelter\u2019s operations after hearing concerns raised by some residents. He said that the facility was not sufficiently open to the public for adoptions, animals were kept there too long, and there was a need to install upgraded ventilation, larger holding structures and new dog runs. Some of the concerns, he said, were acknowledged in a court decision linked to the petition to overturn the lease ordinance.<\/p>\n

Reopening the shelter under municipal control is \u201cabout getting their friends jobs and a place to put their friends again.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the meeting, several residents \u2013 including some animal rights advocates from Toms River and elsewhere, some political opponents of the mayor, and some with ties to former employees \u2013 called for the shelter to be reopened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe county is not working on it, it remains empty, and in the mean time there are less places for our animals to go,\u201d said Dawn Nivison, the wife of Councilman Thomas Nivison, an Rodrick opponent. \u201cPopcorn Park is closed for renovations \u2026 and I believe the county has a shelter that is closing to be redone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, she said, about $1 million in funding from a previous donation willed to the shelter remains available and could be used to make any necessary improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about God\u2019s creatures,\u201d said Councilman David Ciccozzi. \u201cWe have to reopen it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another resident opined that Toms River, as one of the largest suburban municipalities in New Jersey, should have its own shelter.<\/p>\n

Regenye said he will respect the decision of Toms River officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they want to continue with it, we\u2019re fine with that, and we\u2019ll walk away,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there is a need and we\u2019ll look to handle it the best way we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toms River municipal animal shelter will not reopen under township control, Mayor Daniel Rodrick pledged Thursday, a day after the township council narrowly passed a resolution severing a shared services agreement that would allow the Ocean County Health Department to take over the now-shuttered facility under a lease structure. The council voted 4-3, reflecting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[677,470,1080,1993,1194,11,91],"class_list":["post-10329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-animal-shelter","tag-daniel-rodrick","tag-featured","tag-newsbreak","tag-ocean-county-health-department","tag-toms-river-nj-news","tag-township-council"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/shelter.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10330,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10329\/revisions\/10330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}