New Milford, NJ-Woman charged in connection with a caged puppy found dead in a pond

West Milford, NJ-A Morris County woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with animal cruelty in connection with the death of a puppy that was found in a weighted cage in a pond in West Milford last week.

Tonya Fea, 47, of Jefferson Township, was also charged with two counts of animal cruelty and defiant trespass, after an investigation by the West Milford Police and Passaic County Prosecutor’s office.

A female golden retriever puppy was found in a submerged cage in Greenwood Pond on Bonter Road in West Milford on April 30.

The puppy was then taken to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory where a necropsy was performed. The puppy’s cause of death has not yet been released.

Fea was charged via summons-complaint and was released pending the resolution of the case and was scheduled to appear at Central Judicial Processing Court on May 22.