By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
Lions and tigers and bears call Popcorn Park home. The animal rescue and sanctuary opened in the 1970s as a shelter for cats and dogs. Soon after staffers started getting calls from all over country about animals like bears, lions and even elephants.
“It just snowballed. Back then it wasn’t a lot of places like us that would rescue and take in un-releasable wildlife or exotic animals,” Park Director John Bergmann said.
Popcorn Park was launched by Associated Humane Societies. The non-profit has two other shelters in Tinton Falls and Newark. Bergmann says these animals have all been bred in captivity and couldn’t survive in the wild.
“A lot of animals that come here were pets and people do the strangest things,” he said. “They basically mutilate these animals by declawing them. They come from situations where they weren’t comfortable, borderline abused. Sometimes they didn’t know what they were going to eat next, or when they were going to eat.”
At the park their cages are cleaned out daily and they’re properly fed.
“They have different things. One night where they just get bone to clean their teeth and gums and stuff. Then, other nights, they get a big piece of chuck meat where they can tear it apart. Their main diet is four nights a week where they get all they’re good stuff. They don’t like it as much, it’s like our broccoli,” Bergmann said.
When asked if it takes awhile to build up relationships and trust with the animals, he said, “Yes, sometimes it happens right away, then they’re other ones that take a while.”
The animals follow him as he walks beside the fence and they rub their heads against the links as he gives them attention.
“They look forward to our interactions,” Bergmann said. “I mean, we don’t go in with them, but the conversations we have with them, they look forward to seeing us in the morning.”
There are all sorts of animals in the park, like Conga. He looks forward to marshmallows which are his favorite treat.
“That’s a Capuchin monkey. He’s probably one of the nicest monkeys I think I’ve ever met,” he said.
The park fundraises and relies on donations. Aside from the tigers, there are little cats in their shelter. There’s anywhere from 150 to 200 at one time.
Six-month old Dexter is one of about 75 dogs at the shelter. When animals are first brought here they’re examined by a vet. They’re spayed or neutered before they’re adopted, given all their required vaccines and micro-chipped so they can be reclaimed if they get lost or runaway.
“The dogs are heartworm tested and you get a six-month supply of heart worm preventative. Cats are feline AIDS and leukemia tested before they leave so they’re all up-to-date,” kennel supervisor Tiffany Zinky said.
Applicants are screened before the adoptions. As for the Popcorn Park residents, staffers say they’ll live here for the rest of their lives.