MILLSTONE — Scores of goats and sheep have been removed from a Millstone Township farm following the issuance of a court order that was imposed on the residents who live at the property.
The removal of the animals came several weeks after a municipal judge directed Christopher Vaccaro and Tina Perna to arrange for the removal of all 250 animals from their Stillhouse Road property by April 21.
“Part of the order is that the animals were to be removed … and that has happened,” said Richard Kelly, who is the municipal prosecutor. “[Vaccaro and Perna] are prohibited from replacing [the animals] with other goats and sheep.”
The charges against Vaccaro and Perna, which were filed by the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MCSPCA) in September, arose after representatives of the organization found the sheep and goats living in poor conditions.
According to the MCSPCA, a visit to the farm earlier in 2014 confirmed reports of dead animals on the property.
MCSPCA representatives said they found a goat carcass tangled in a wire fence, along with evidence that indicated the goat had been in that location for some time. Two more goat carcasses were located and a live sheep was found tangled in a bundle of wire.
During a municipal trial, investigators testified conditions at the farm were not conducive to helping animals survive the winter. Water was frozen and there was nothing for the animals to drink, food was allegedly inadequate for the number of animals on the property and there was poor shelter and bedding.
Kelly described the farm as a “place of deprivation, squalor and death.”
In addition to being directed to remove the animals, Vaccaro and Perna were ordered to pay a $500 fine for each of the three counts of improper care of an animal. The MCSPCA retains the right to access the property and to inspect the conditions.
Vaccaro had previously pleaded guilty to failing to provide proper care to goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, dogs and cats that were living on his farm. Other charges, including failure to provide clean, fresh water for the animals, were dismissed.
Although Kelly said the most recent court order was successfully executed and no goats or sheep remain on the property, he said there are no measures in place that prohibit Vaccaro or Perna from obtaining other animals.
“Hopefully this doesn’t happen again,” Kelly said of the issues at the farm. “Hopefully this is it.”