BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
JACKSON – Police have charged a man found hiding in a trailer on East Fish Road with animal cruelty in connection with the death of a cocker spaniel.
The following account of the incident was provided by Jackson’s animal control and cruelty investigation officer Joseph Sbano.
On Feb. 5, Tara Melnick, of Frank Applegarth Road, adopted a female black cocker spaniel named Abbie from the Northern Ocean County Animal Shelter, Jackson. She then gave the dog to her boyfriend, which is against shelter policy.
Sbano received information on March 27 that Melnick’s boyfriend, Dennis Robinson, also known as Jodi Robinson, had beaten the dog to death.
After interviewing two eyewitnesses to the beating, Sbano went to the trailer at the Maple Lake Campground, Route 528 near Hope Chapel Road, where Robinson lived, but no one was home.
However, he observed what appeared to be blood stains on a carpeted walkway. Sbano took the evidence to Jackson police Detective Howard Bogan and along with Officer James Anuario returned to the trailer at the Maple Lake Campground.
“Several residents said Mr. Robinson was inside the trailer, but no one answered the door,” Sbano said.
Subsequently, Sbano received a call from a person at the campground who said the body of a cocker spaniel had been found. The dog was taken to a veterinary surgical and diagnostic specialist and an X-ray was taken, which revealed a broken neck and blunt force injury to the animal’s skull.
A warrant for Robinson’s arrest was issued.
An anonymous tip sent Bogan, Anuario and Sbano to Monmouth County, where further information was gathered, which sent the officers back to Jackson.
“Mr. Robinson was apprehended on March 30 while hiding out with his girlfriend, Tara Melnick, in a trailer on East Fish Road,” Sbano said.
Robinson was charged with beating the dog to death and with being in possession of a controlled dangerous substance. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Abbie’s previous owner, an 80-year-old man, had taken ill and could no longer care for the cocker spaniel, Sbano said.
“He reluctantly brought Abbie to the shelter hoping they would find the dog a loving home,” Sbano said. “Abbie passed all of her temperament tests with flying colors. When Tara Melnick adopted Abbie, the workers at the shelter were hoping, as always, that another animal had found a loving home. We are hoping, if anything, that this case will help increase the penalties for animal cruelty. The community is our eyes and ears. Anyone who sees any act of cruelty toward an animal can call us at (732) 928-5780.”
Anyone with information regarding this particular case is asked to call Sbano at (732) 928-5780.