Andrea Rosebrock 
Last April after the house in Barnegat, NJ had been abandoned for at least 6 months, after a concerned neighbor called, both police and a Fannie Mae mortgage company rep showed up at the house at 21 Potomac Court to foreclose, they found more than they ever expected, a scene from hell.
Inside the house were animals, dead animals, dozens and dozens of them in all states of decomposition, laying around stuffed in cages, in the freezer, underfoot. There were dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, turtles, a total of 68 dead animals.
Sgt. Thomas Yanisko of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the dead animals included 28 kittens that were wrapped either in towels or plastic bags and placed in a freezer, as well as three large dogs, one a German shepherd that may have been a former police dog. Teymant’s father is a Toms River police canine officer who trained dogs for law-enforcement agencies throughout the state.
“The sights, the smells, the increased feeling of empathy for the poor, pathetic, helpless animals, that is something we will never forget,” Yanisko said.
“They were stuck in these cages, and they couldn’t even have a chance to run to a dripping sink or anything like that. You can just visualize the way these animals ultimately died,” said Yanisko. “The horror they must have gone through just wasting away and not being able to get anything to drink or eat. They just dropped in the house, wherever they happened to be, when they didn’t have any more energy to get up and move. That’s the way that we found them.”
The owners of the home, Matthew Teymant and wife, Amanda Teymant, who had purchased it in 2006. Both were arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
At the time of the arrest Teymant was a dispatcher for the Toms River Police Department and Teymant’s father is a retired K-9 unit police officer. Teymant never returned to his job after his arrest.
Amazingly, Teymant claimed as his defense that he was a rescuer, operating as “Forever Blue Monday Hedgehogs & Rescue” and was trying to save the animals but just got overwhelmed. An animal welfare expert called him a hoarder. When Teymant’s house went into foreclosure he just moved, leaving all the animals to die.
Teymant pleaded guilty to animal cruelty while his wife, Amanda pleaded not guilty and applied for pre-trial intervention.
On Monday as part of a plea bargain, they were both sentenced by Superior Court Judge Barbara Ann Villano , Matthew Teymant to five years’ probation and 250 hours community service, Amanda, 23, was accepted into a pre-trial intervention program that will result in charges being dropped after 18 months and she must perform 100 hours of community service. Both are not allowed to go near animals as part of their sentences.
Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Michael Abatemarco had asked for a county jail term of 364 days for Matthew Teymant as a condition of his probation.
But Villano said she didn’t agree with Abatemarco that incarceration is called for in the case. The judge, in explaining her decision, cited letters she received from Teymant’s neighbors and friends, his lack of any prior criminal history, and the absence of any malfeasance in parenting his two young sons, one 2 years old and the other 10 months. (MyCentralJersey.com)
One can only hope they never feel “overwhelmed” with their children!
A lawyer for the couple said Matthew Teymant was only trying to care for needy animals, but he and his wife became overwhelmed when they had two children of their own. They abandoned the house about seven months before the gruesome discovery.
Prosecutors had sought 364 days in jail for Matthew Teymant.
But his lawyer, Bradley Billhimer, said Teymant is a caring man who simply got overwhelmed trying to care for too many animals.
‘There’s not a malicious bone in his body,’ Mr Billhimer said.
‘With the birth of his first son, it got to be overwhelming.’ (Straits Times)
With sentences like this, how is anyone going to take animal cruelty seriously?? What kind of message does this send? I am sick to death of excuses! There is no excuse! You don’t leave a house full to animals locked in cages to starve to death. What about justice? Disgusted doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this total and complete travesty of justice!
If anyone would like to contact the Judge to express their displeasure, here is the contact information. Please remember, be polite! Yelling, screaming, ranting, etc. doesn’t help things, it just makes people who honestly care about the welfare of animals, all of us, look like a bunch of extremists and nutcases.
Judge Barbara Ann Villano
Ocean County Courthouse
100 Washington Street
CN 2191, CrRm 17
Toms River, New Jersey 08753
732-929-2173
732-929-4766
I am a lawyer and I have great respect for judges. But for a judge to sentence someone to probation for a horrible crime like this is shocking and appalling and heartbreaking. All these people had to do was make a simple phone call to someone, anyone, and these animals would have been rescued. But they said nothing and let them suffer horrible deaths and were actually rewarded by the Judge for doing so. Obviously Judge Villano does not care one whit for animals or their suffering.
Hey, Kat, after all, they were “just animals.”
Maybe if that Judge had to have gone into that house… seen the horror…. maybe, just maybe it may have made a small difference. Nah, I doubt it. Takes empathy and to issue a sentence like that, there is no empathy whatsoever!
D.
28 kittens individually wrapped in towels and left in the freezer??? That obviously proves that these animals were dying even before they were abandoned.
I am so angry I can barely focus…it seems the judge in this case could afford some counseling as well – c’mon, one of the reasons they did not recieve jail time is b/c there was no malfeasance in parenting his sons? That is not part of this crime. What if he had no children?? So – if I torture and murder a member of my family, will the judge go easy on me if I haven’t harmed any other members and still treat them with respect? How does one have to do with the other? Deanna, I love your observation about the children – what will they do if they begin to feel overwhelmed by them? And I agree with Kat – one SIMPLE phone call could have prevented this. If these people had even one empathetic bone in their bodies, they would have made that call. Jeez – they simply did not care and they CHOSE to inflict this torture on these animals.
Is there no action to be taken? Write letters? I know it won’t change the sentencing, but how can this be changed for future cases? It has gotten so that I feel our leaders, who fail to take these cases seriously, are just as guilty as those who physically commit the crimes. A slap on the wrist will not deter future offenders. We have such a long way to go and it is so sad.
For whatever reason, I could not see the entire last part of the article when I first logged on and posted my previous comment. Thank you for providing the address, I will definitely write a letter and cross-post the information – thanks!
This Judge should be disbarred under all circumstance. If she is this light with sentencing animals what would she do for a human. A petition should be drawn up and submitted. She obviously isn’t in her right mind. NO animal should have to suffer when there are so many other opportunities. The punishment should have been prison for many years. And to boot these criminals were involved with law enforcement. Maybe there should be higher standards for that too. If you think about this “more animals are smarter than humans if you take the time to understand them”. Giving the opportunity these animals could have had loving homes. If they were truly a rescue, then why didn’t they try to find these poor animals homes. There are many sites you can post onto to be able to find homes for them. It just makes me sick to see what is allowed to happen in this country. We are becoming more like 3rd world countries with no regards to anything.
I’M NOT EVEN GONNA COMMENT ON THIS ONE AS I’M SO PISSED NO MORE LIKE ENRAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my doG that is so sickening. Rescuers that got overwhelmed, my ass.! They know there is help out there so why no call.
As for the judge, Sorry Kat but they or at least that one has just dropped another notch on my low esteme of them.
Can’t write the letter…..so anger and I don’t know if I could control my words!!
Words fail me as I am so horrified and angry at the same time!
Words are failing me too!!This seems more like a kiss on the cheek than a slap on the wrist!!Outrageous!!How can anyone think this is “punishment” for torturing animals to death!?!Unbelievable!!
I have to say that I am glad that I’m not the only one who is about stunned speechless at this sentence. I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through that Judge’s head with this and yes, Kerry, I agree, this doesn’t even amount to a slap on the wrist.
There is no punishment here… there is no justice for the cruel deaths these poor innocent and defenseless animals suffered!
D.
Probation?! You’ve got to be kidding!
Why don’t they lock this couple up for six months with no food or water and see how they’d survive?!
I too am so angry at this story it is unbelievable! I totally agree with Luliegirl, if the kittens were individually wrapped in towels and left in the freezer they definitly were dying before they abandoned the house. Not that that should even be used an an excuse!
How hard is it to surrender them, how could anyone watch an animal suffer and die like that, let alone 68 of them!
Right! The fact that a large number of kittens were dead should not be used as an excuse, but serve to prove that the animals were being neglected even while the people still lived in the house – why else would TWENTY-EIGHT kittens be dead??? And then they were not even disposed of properly….they put them in the damn freezer. This SHOULD obviously prove neglect and that these people are sick.
And I have to say – so are the people in power who allow this to happen with no real consequences.
Judge Barbara Ann Villano obviously has no empathy for the agonizing deaths of theses animals. This judge should be removed from the bench. What a bad message she is sending to our children about compassion to other living creaturs and what a green flag she is sending to existing and potential animal abusers.
OMG!!! This sounds like the worst horror story I have ever heard. This A**** was involved in the police force???!!! His father a canine trainer for the Police???!! WHAT THE F***! Maybe that’s why this judge went EASY on him. One shepherd was believed to be a K-9 police dog??? DAMN! That dog would have given it’s life in the line of duty and to think it died this horrific death makes me so sick! I am heartbroken over this. I don’t know if I could have handled seeing a scene so terrible. May all these creatures of God rest in peace.
I feel like everyone else – I was so horrified I had to write a letter and emailed a copy to Abatemarco. As suggested, I remained respectful- here’s what I wrote
“I am writing to express my opinion as to your verdict on the Taymant case. While it is true that I do not have access to all the facts in this case I must say that I find your decision unbelievably lenient. As you may have noticed there appears to be a strong movement in this country towards the humane treatment of animals due to the efforts of organizations such as the Humane Society and the ASPCA. I feel saddened that someone in your position, someone who could set an example for other cases yet to be heard, did not take the opportunity to do so. I understand that there are constraints upon judges as to the sentences they can deliver but if this is the case, then we need to look at how to change those constraints
Excellent letter Karen! This is just the kind of response that’s needed to convey our feelings of dissatisfaction, dismay and displeasure. When the judicial system drops the ball like this judge did it sends a horrible message that people can do and get away with such horrific abuses! And you are right, we, as a country and people, are moving much stronger toward a more humane treatment. Now if the powers that be would only move with us!
D.
100 friggin community svc hours while on friggin probation??????????????? OMFG!!
That’s all I can say right now and keep it clean.
Rot in hell you 2 POS
100 friggin community svc hours while on friggin probation??????????????? OMFG!!
That’s all I can say right now and keep it clean.
Rot in hell you 2 POS (OK, not so clean but you know what I mean!!!!!!)