Couple charged over 64 dead pets in Barnegat

A South Jersey husband and wife were released on $25,000 bail each yesterday after they were arrested and charged in the deaths of dozens of house pets found at the Jersey Shore.

Matthew R. and Amanda Teymant own the unoccupied townhouse on Potomac Circle in Barnegat, N.J., where police found the skeletal remains of 64 animals Monday.

Investigators questioned Matthew Teymant, 29, at the Barnegat Police Department. He and his wife were each charged with a single count of animal cruelty; additional charges are pending, authorities said. Both had been held at the Ocean County Jail.

Matthew Teymant, a police dispatcher in Toms River, N.J., is a licensed breeder of hedgehogs and was a member of Barnegat's first-aid squad. He and his wife have been living with relatives in Toms River, Toms River Police Chief Michael G. Mastronardy said.

A mortgage company recently foreclosed on the Teymants' $141,000 house, and a locksmith was sent Monday to change the locks.

"The locksmith opened the door and said, 'Holy crap,' " said Matt Stanton, spokesman for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Police soon arrived and discovered the reeking carcasses of dogs, gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles and ferrets locked in cages or boxed in crates. The decomposing remains of several cats were found throughout the house.

"The only things alive in that house were the flies and the maggots," Stanton said.

"The electricity had been turned off. There was no food or water at all," he said. "We want to know what screw was loose in the owners' heads."

Stanton said Matthew Teymant's father is a retired K-9 officer who once worked for the Toms River police.

Stanton said some people took in stray animals with the best of intentions.

"Then it gets out of control," he said. "It's called hoarding. They end up in a position where they don't know what to do and bad things happen."

The NJSPCA investigates about 5,000 cases a year.

The Teymants could each face more than 250 counts of animal cruelty. Each animal death potentially carries four charges: failing to provide proper shelter, failure to provide proper sustenance, abandonment, and causing an animal's death.

Each count carries a penalty of up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, and 30 days of community service, Stanton said.

"This didn't have to happen," he said. "As people are hit with the housing crisis and foreclosures, the animals are hit, too.

"If there's any reason someone needs to get rid of an animal, they can call us or their local shelter."

To get more information or report suspected animal hoarding, see the SPCA's Web site at

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