Kathleen Hopkins

@Khopkinsapp





It started with a call that a single dog had gotten loose.

It ballooned into a situation that no one could have imagined.

Behind the doors of a modest, bi-level home on Bennett Road in Howell, hundreds of dogs were living in squalor, authorities said.

The first time anything was thought to be amiss there was on the evening of June 2 when an animal control officer was called to the neighborhood on a report that a dog was running loose in the neighborhood.

The officer, from the Associated Humane Society, contacted the owners of the Bennett Road home and the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The next day, officers from the SPCA and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office paid a visit and immediately recognized the situation as “an extreme hoarding situation.’’



OFFICIALS DESCRIBE SCENE: Dog hoarding press conference

What ensued was a full-scale, rescue operation undertaken by animal-welfare workers, Howell Township police and the county sheriff’s office, health department and HAZMAT team, many wearing protective clothing and masks.



HAPPY ENDING: First of Howell rescue dogs adopted

The initial assessment of the problem far underestimated its scope.

Ross Licitra, chief law enforcement officer for the county SPCA, at first told the Asbury Park Press there were 80 to 100 dogs inside, some giving birth while the rescuers were there.

But, as the animal-welfare workers and law-enforcement officers toiled into the night to carry out dogs and puppies by the armful, the head count of canines kept growing. It eventually reached 276, and authorities declared the situation the worst dog hoarding situation they had ever seen in Monmouth County.



SEE THE DOGS EMERGE: 276 dogs found in Howell home

Early the following week, as animal caretakers were trying to prepare the rescued canines for adoption, four more dogs – two adults and two newborn puppies, were found underneath the porch of the Bennett Road home.

The plight of the puppies and older dogs led newscasts in the metropolitan area as animal welfare workers scrambled to find shelters to take them to. The public opened their hearts to the pooches with offers to adopt them and fundraisers to provide means for their care.

Meanwhile, the couple that owned the home where the dogs were kept in squalor were charged with 552 counts of animal cruelty – two for each dog that was taken from their home on June 3.



LEGAL FALLOUT: Hundreds of charges in Howell dog hoarding case

The case is on the docket Wednesday when Charlene and Joseph Handrik are scheduled to appear in Howell Municipal Court at 300 Old Tavern Road to answer the charges.

The Handriks are scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. before Municipal Court Judge Susan Schroeder Clark.

Please turn to APP.com later on Wednesday and to Thursday’s Asbury Park Press for full coverage.

(On the docket continues below the gallery)

ADJOURNED:

- Jury selection for the kidnapping and assault trial of Levi Soza, 26, of Highlands had been scheduled to begin last Tuesday but has now been rescheduled to July 12 before Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. Read more about this case here

- The sentencings of Colts Neck brothers Anhuar Bandy and Karim Bandy in an insurance kickback scheme, scheduled for last Friday at the Mercer County Courthouse in Trenton, was postponed. The new date is not yet known.Read more about this case here

Please note: Court events are often subject to last minute changes and adjournments.



Kathleen Hopkins: 732-643-4202; Khopkins@app.com