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Superior Court Judge Marilyn C. Clark, sitting in Paterson, approved the terms of a plea deal under which Tonya Fea, 49, must complete 100 days of community service following her release. She also can no longer own a dog, under agreement with the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Fea, of Boonton, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Paterson to third-degree animal cruelty two months ago, admitting under oath that she submerged her Golden Retriever puppy in Greenwood Pond on April 30, 2019.
She'd been identified and arrested thanks to a $12,000 reward posted by The Last Resort Animal Rescue after a member of the non-profit group found the dog’s body in a crate at the edge of the pond.
The puppy – which the group named Jenny -- had been drowned, a necropsy found.
"The puppy was dead and ice cold and soaking wet inside the crate, lake bed vegetation hanging on the crate," the organization's Nancy Warner wrote at the time.
Also in the cage with Jenny was a wee-wee pad and a lead-crystal ice bucket that authorities believe was used to weigh it down.
The pads had some blood on them and were stuck to Jenny's head.
Township police detectives discovered that Fea had made an appointment at the West Milford Animal Hospital for a Golden Retriever puppy the same day that Jenny's body was found but didn't show up or cancel, according to court records.
Things fell into place after that.
Fea later blamed the high cost of pet care.
"I panicked," she told the judge during her August plea hearing.
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ALSO SEE: A former New Jersey Army major and his wife avoided more time in federal prison Wednesday when they were resentenced for routinely torturing three adopted children by breaking bones, withholding water and force-feeding them hot sauce, among other cruelties. READ MORE....
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