OLD BRIDGE — At the recommendation of Police Chief William Volkert, four assistants were hired for the Old Bridge Animal Shelter to assist the Animal Control officers.
Mayor Owen Henry said he and the chief made a presentation before the Township Council on a needs assessment done by the police department, which included some additional resources at the shelter.
“The shelter assistants will be assisting the ACOs [Animal Control officers],” Henry said. “The duties [of the assistants will] include cleaning cages, assisting ACOs, socialization [and] working with the volunteers.”
Henry said the goal is to have the ACOs leave the shelter without locking the door behind him or her and to keep the shelter open rather than closed when the officers have to leave on a call.
Members of the public have been asking for the shelter to be open additional hours. The shelter currently is open 7 days a week from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Lisa Lent, of the Old Bridge Animal Shelter Volunteers organization, asked Henry at a Township Council meeting on Aug. 7 if the hiring of the assistants meant keeping the shelter open during lunch hours.
Henry said adding additional hours for the shelter is the goal as a result of comments that have been made by the public.
“We are working towards that trying to increase the hours when there are people tending to the animals in a more structured environment with township employees,” he said.
Lent asked how long the process would take to assess the assistants and if there was a timeframe when additional hours would come to fruition.
Henry said there was no timeframe on analyzing the new hires.
“We will be looking at [the changes] every few months and see what we can do to continue to improve [the shelter],” he said.
The Old Bridge Police Department oversees the Old Bridge Animal Shelter at 1 Old Bridge Plaza.
The shelter is supervised by Police Captain Joseph Mandola, the Animal Shelter Coordinator is Karen Chen and the Animal Control Officers are Lynn Steckel and Josephine Mestre.
Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].