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Article Archive > Monmouth County man banned from owning pets for 5 years after abandoning rabbit Monmouth County man banned from owning pets for 5 years after abandoning rabbit A Monmouth County man was fined $500 this morning and ordered to have no pets for five years after he admitted to abandoning his family's pet rabbit in the wild. Jong Park, 51, of the Morganville section of Marlboro, pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty in Marlboro municipal court, said Victor "Buddy'' Amato, chief animal cruelty officer for the Monmouth County SPCA. Park could have faced a fine of up to $2,000. Amato filed the charges against Park on April 9 after Park's neighbors noticed a white domesticated rabbit hopping around a wooded section of the street's cul-de-sac. Amato said Park admitted to releasing the 1-year-old bunny named Hope because she had outgrown her cage. Suffering from severe dehydration and tick infestation, the rabbit, who had spent about three weeks in the wild, was rescued on April 7. She has since regained the 5 pounds she lost and will be adopted out, Amato said. "She's doing great,'' he said. "She's nice and chubby."
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