Crews rescued almost 300 dogs from a case of extreme hoarding in Howell Township Friday. “In the meantime we are in need of medium crates/kennels, sheets, towels, & puppy and dog food”, animal control officer Sgt. Kevin Rella said.
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When they realized how many dogs were in the home, they were shocked.
Licitra said most of the animals were in fair condition. In all, 276 dogs were found inside the 1880-square-foot home, officials said.
An official with the SPCA says this is the largest case of animal hoarding they’ve ever seen.
“I would knock on her door and say, ‘Charlene, open the door, you have a dog loose, ‘ and she would never open the door”, she said. However, some of the animals were taken to get emergency veterinary care; few of the dogs received oxygen at the scene. “We’re not bad people”.
Noting that he was “exhausted” and “can’t even think”, Hendricks declined to explain how the hoarding had unfolded.
When the official came across the Hendricks’ home he could smell the stench and hear dogs barking inside.
Asked how it happened, he replied: “It’s more than you think”.
“We’ve been receiving dozens and dozens of calls from people looking to adopt these animals”, Ross Licitra, Executive Director of the Monmouth County ASPCA told 1010 WINS. Authorities set up a triage area to care for and vaccinate the dogs before they were taken to shelters.
Eighty dogs were also vaccinated at the scene before authorities ran out of supplies.
[ Photo by Kent Gilbert/AP Images ] Whether or not the couple will be charged with animal abuse will depend on the medical work-up of the dogs rescued from their home.
Rooney said the dogs were recovering pretty well, considering the conditions to which they had been exposed.
He said no charges have yet been filed against the owners of the home on Bennett Road, Joe and Charlene Hendrick.
Across the street, Suzanne DeGrande, 60, watched from her front steps.
Forty dogs found caked in their own waste and living in squalor in a home on Spruce Street in Lakewood a year ago.
The dogs were being medically treated because they were infested with fleas from “living in squalor”, officials at the humane societies said Saturday.
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More than 300 dead birds found in 2014 stacked from floor to ceiling in the Little Silver home of Gretchen Rell, a former volunteer for the Monmouth County SPCA. Christian Antunez said, but was not directly involved in the rescue.
