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Article Archive > Former animal control officer gets probation for record tampering Former animal control officer gets probation for record tampering FREEHOLD - A former Asbury Park animal control officer who admitted she tampered with public records after failing to properly care for an injured cat was sentenced to probation Friday. Caren Cunningham, 50, of Asbury Park, was sentenced to one-year probation and barred from holding any public office in New Jersey by Superior Court Judge Francis P. DeStefano, sitting in Freehold. Cunningham pleaded guilty in January to two other charges issued by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for improper care of a domestic animal and for leaving the animal in a motor vehicle in excessive heat. Cunningham was hired as an Asbury Park animal control officer in January 2007. On June 27, 2007, she responded to a report of an injured cat at an Asbury Park home. According to an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, Asbury Park police and the SPCA, upon her arrival on the scene she got into an argument with the person who called in the initial report but eventually removed the injured cat from the area. Cunningham placed the cat into her city-owned vehicle, and according to the standard operating procedure for the department, she was required to take the injured feline to Garden State Veterinary Hospital, in Tinton Falls for care. Cunningham failed to take the cat to the hospital, however. Instead, she drove it to the Asbury Park municipal complex. She left the cat in the vehicle in 90-degree temperatures without water or ventilation for an extended period of time, according to the Prosecutor's Office. "The van she left the cat in was like an oven," said SPCA Chief Victor "Buddy" Amato. Cunningham later filed two conflicting official reports regarding the incident. As part of the investigation, the injured feline was never located. Cunningham was terminated from her post in July. "She abused the trust of Asbury Park. She abused the trust of the animal control officers and the trust of the animals that were in her care," Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor John F. Loughery said in court Friday. Last month, Neptune animal control officer Laura McInnes had her animal control officer license revoked after she pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges for failing to take an injured dog to a veterinarian after confiscating the abused dog from its owner, according to Amato. McInnes picked up the terrier-mix dog, named Gotti, after it was found with a broken leg. According to Amato, McInnes took the dog to the municipal pound. After complaints from Amato, she then took the dog to the veterinarian. McInnes was told the dog needed X-rays and other medical treatment, but instead returned the dog to the owner. Amato says he went to retrieve the dog from the owner but was told the dog "got away." "That dog was never heard from again," Amato said.
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