New Jersey: Keith Morgan lied and said he'd found a matted Cocker Spaniel abandoned inside a trash bag. Police say it was his dog and that he lied about the whole story.

NEW JERSEY -- The Brick man who walked into the Associated Humane Society with a near-dead dog in a garbage bag faces numerous animal cruelty charges because animal cruelty investigators don’t believe his story.

Keith E. Morgan, 56, and his wife, Shauna Ewing Morgan, 43, were taken into custody Friday at their home at 306 Sawmill Road, Brick. They have since been released, authorities said.

 Morgan told humane society workers Thursday that he found a Cocker Spaniel in a garbage bag on Belmar Road in Wall, according to Victor “Buddy” Amato, chief humane law enforcement officer with the SPCA.

The Morgans were taken to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday night where they were being charged, according to Charles Webster, spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office.

“Both of them are going to be charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty and interfering in an investigation. The multiple counts are all being sorted out, but will include animal cruelty involving neglect, and a separate charge of abandonment,” Webster said.

The charges are considered disorderly persons offenses, which carry up to six months in jail or less, he said.

“That changes if the dog dies,” Webster said.

Amato said Morgan brought the dog into the humane society in Tinton Falls at 4 p.m. Thursday, covered in waste and dehydrated. “The dog couldn’t move. From the dog’s chest down to tip of its tail, it was just one big giant knot,” Amato said.

Amato said Morgan’s story didn’t add up from the start.

“The dog was in a black garbage bag, and Morgan said that when he found it in Wall Township, the bag was closed, sealed and he opened it up and found a dog,” Amato said. “He said he wanted to do the right thing. Then we began our investigation.

“They (humane society) called me to come down and do interviews. The story itself was unbelievable ... that he’s driving down the highway and sees big black bag moving and finds animal near death,” Amato said. “The whole thing was just bizarre and as far as we’re concerned it’s fabrication.”

Amato said Morgan was so convincing when he first brought the dog in that the humane society workers named the dog “Morgan” for the supposed hero who “rescued” him.

Amato said the humane society discarded the name after Morgan was arrested.

“Right now, the dog doesn’t have a name,” Amato said.

The dog is a male Cocker Spaniel, but officials don’t know its exact age or how the Morgans got the dog.

“The dog was registered in Brick to these people (the couple) in 2007. We know that the dog is at least 7 years old, but it looks much older than 7.”

Amato said the dog’s condition was being treated at the animal hospital Friday night.

“The condition of the dog is guarded at best. Obviously the animal is in deep pain and sickly.
Hopefully the dog pulls through, but if the dog doesn’t pull through, that makes it it an indictable offense,” he said.

(Asbury Park Press - March 16, 2013)