Lacey ​Animal Control Contract Draws Criticism From Advocates​

LACEY, NJ — The Lacey Board of Health voted unanimously on Wednesday to rehire the town's previous animal control officer this year.

Animal advocates criticized the board’s decision to renew its contract with A-Academy Termite and Pest Control over the Lacey-based Popcorn Park Zoo at a committee meeting on Thursday.

“It’s totally hypocritical for you to say ‘shop locally’ and then turn down a business who is in town, who has been in town for an extended period of time and turn them down when they apply to be your animal control officer, and who do a much more humane job as far as taking care of the animals—not just domestic but also wild,” said Barry Bendar, of Lacey.

During board of health and committee meetings last month, Bendar along with several supporters of Popcorn Park Zoo, asked Lacey Township officials to consider hiring the zoo in 2021 rather than the pest control company.

Bendar and Lisa Tarzia, of Lacey, also started an online petition last month in support of Popcorn Park Zoo, which received about 550 signatures from Lacey residents as of Thursday, according to Bendar. Read more: Popcorn Park Zoo Petition Attracts Support From Lacey Residents

According to the petition, the Popcorn Park Zoo provides a TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Release) program for feral cats versus the current program, which shelters feral cats for one week and then euthanizes them.

During the committee meeting on Dec. 10, Tarzia said TNVR programs are less costly for tax payers than euthanasia.

“Over 550 signatures from just citizens of Lacey Township signed that petition, and I want to know what more than 550 citizens of Lacey Township, etcetera, would sway that,” Bendar added.

The petition attracted supporters from other towns, states and countries, bringing the overall total to 895 signatures. Bendar said people can still sign the petition, which can be found here.

Committee members assured Bendar that the board's vote was not out of spite for the Popcorn Park Zoo.

Mayor Peter Curatolo said, “It (Popcorn Park Zoo) is part of the fabric of who we are and has been for decades...Your folks that came—because I attended every meeting in the last several months you were there, made a very compelling case. The board voted the way they voted.”

Bendar asked the board of health and the township committee to explain what factors went into the board's decision. Curatolo, who serves as a liaison to the Lacey Board of Health, said details could not be disclosed due to legal reasons.

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