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Article Archive > SPCA seizes 3 emaciated pit bulls in Eatontown SPCA seizes 3 emaciated pit bulls in Eatontown EATONTOWN - Animal protection advocates seized three emaciated dogs from a borough man's backyard that they suspect is running a pit bull breeding puppy mill and who was convicted of animal cruelty in Tinton Falls last month in a case in which another emaciated dog was seized, officials said. Enforcement officers from the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seized three American pit bull terriers - an adult male and a pair of adult females who had obviously been bred for puppies - from the backyard of a Richardson Avenue home, according to Chief Law Enforcement Officer Victor "Buddy" Amato. The dogs were found cooped up inside a small pen made out of six-foot chainlink fencing measuring about three feet by 12 feet covered in wind-ripped blue tarpaulins that had collected about a foot of water that was frozen by the cold temperatures. Dwayne Morris, 32, was ordered Thursday morning by Municipal Court Judge George Cieri to turn the dogs over to the county SPCA as part of his plea agreement in municipal court after pleading guilty to a lone count of animal cruelty by not providing sustenance for the three animals, Amato said. "[Morris] had previously been warned about the living conditions of these dogs. We gave him fair warning," Amato said. Last month, Morris surrendered a male pit bull, Clancy, and was fined $250 after pleading guilty to one count of animal cruelty by not providing sustenance for the dog at a William Street residence in that town, Amato said. The male dog had bloodied front paws, and was attempting to gnaw his way through the chainlink fence when officers arrived Thursday morning to cart the dogs away to the SPCA shelter in town, while the two female dogs appeared to have been recently nursing puppies despite no puppies being found at the location. "It's like a puppy mill here in Eatontown. The females go into heat, then get bred and put back into this hole. They're going into heat again, get bred and do it all over again," Amato said. Morris peacefully turned over the three dogs to SPCA officials. |