Andrew J. Goudsward

@agoudsward

JACKSON - Seventeen dogs living in "filth and misery" have been rescued from a Jackson garage that was covered in animal waste, the Associated Humane Popcorn Park Shelter said.

Volunteers from Home Free Animal Rescue removed the dogs from the windowless concrete garage along Route 571 where they were living in deplorable conditions, the shelter said in a statement. Rescuers also alerted the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is investigating.

The dogs were in "much worse" condition than those recently rescued from a property in Howell, the shelter said.

Kathy Kremer, a volunteer at Home Free Animal Rescue, which rescued the dogs last week, said rescuers "couldn't believe their eyes" when they saw the inhumane conditions.

"Honestly, I've been doing rescue for a long time, and it was the worst, most horrible situation I've seen. You couldn't breathe in there. I don't know how the dogs survived. You couldn't walk without touching feces," she said.

Matt Stanton, a spokesman for the NJSPCA, said an active investigation was underway.

The owner told rescuers he had started with a few dogs, but they multiplied and the situation "got out of hand," Kremer said.

Ranging in age from 5 months old to young adults, the dogs had never left the garage their entire lives before they were rescued, according to the shelter.

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"There was no ventilation in this garage, no windows, nowhere for the urine and feces to go, and no end in sight for these poor dogs living in such filth and misery," Popcorn Park's statement said.

Over time, both the garage and the dogs themselves ended up covered in the dogs' waste. The feces had been on the dogs for so long, it twisted their hair into dreadlocks.

Kremer said the owner had contacted Home Free Animal Rescue a year ago to take five of the puppies. In exchange, he promised he would have the remaining dogs neutered and spayed.

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After seeing coverage of the incident in Howell in which 276 dogs were recovered from a home, the owner became "afraid," Kremer said, and requested the organization's help in removing the dogs.

"He wanted to do it all on the down-low," Kremer said.

The organization agreed to help but still alerted the NJSPCA. Jackson police were also present during the rescue, Kremer said.

Rescuers arrived at the home Thursday and removed seven of the dogs, then returned on Saturday to rescue the other 10.

She said the owner and his girlfriend, who frequently stayed at the house, had been feeding the dogs, so they appeared to be in otherwise good physical condition. Nonetheless, the dogs were terrified and bit one volunteer during the rescue.

Kremer said the organization had been told that there were possibly eight other dogs, with the same owners, in similar or worse condition at another location in Jackson.

Four dogs were taken in by Popcorn Park, two were moved to an SPCA shelter in Atlantic County, and the rest were brought under the care of Home Free Animal Rescue volunteers.

Of those brought to Popcorn Park, the three male dogs had to be completely shaved down to the skin, while the female took a nearly hourlong bath to remove the feces, according to the shelter.

Cleaning the dogs will likely be the easy part.

"The hard part is getting them to realize that they are safe and cared for, and that they have nothing to be afraid of. Right now they are still quite terrified and can barely handle being touched. This is just heartbreaking to watch, but we have been through this before with so many groups of dogs from so many terrible situations, and we know that with lots of time, love and patience, we will get through to these terribly scared pups," the statement said.

The dogs are currently not up for adoption. John Bergmann, general manager at Popcorn Park, said they were "not socialized at all" and would need some time to adjust after being rescued.

Kremer said the dogs have done well since rescue, and some have even given kisses and allowed their new owners to pet them.

She said she hoped the dogs' owner and his girlfriend would be "held accountable."

"We're the voice for these animals. I'm going to fight to file charges against these people," she said. "These dogs lived in horrible conditions for God knows how long."

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Andrew Goudsward: (732) 643-3653; agoudsward@gannettnj.com