Trash Bagged Dogs Dumped in Woods

Appears animals had been used for fighting

Animal cruelty investigators in Cumberland County, N.J. are trying to figure out who stuffed the bodies of three young pit bulls into garbage bags and dumped them in a remote section of Millville.

“This is just absolutely reprehensible,” Cumberland County SPCA Executive Director Bev Greco told NBC 10 News at the scene Friday morning.

A man walking his own dog around dusk New Year’s Day made the grisly discovery, in a wooded area just yards from the banks of Union Lake. Investigators are confident the dogs, thought to be between six months and a year old, were dumped here recently.

“They were all three in a very emaciated state. They had bruising. They had fighting wounds. They had scars as well as fresh wounds,” Greco said.

“They were double, triple bagged, so you couldn’t pick up a scent,” said Anthony Cills, a Millville Animal Control Officer. “It’s cruel and inhumane. It’s a cruelty case that’s going to be investigated.”

The site of the discovery is not far from a section of Millville known for dog fighting, according to investigators.

“We have had multiple issues in that neighborhood before so it leads me to believe that it’s where the animals came from initially,” Greco said. “This community, we have this issue with the pit bulls and the fighting and the dumping of bodies it seems like it never ends.”

The dogs’ bodies were taken to the Cumberland County SPCA shelter in Vineland. Investigators hoped to get more answers about how they died following a veterinary examination on Saturday.

The SPCA wants to hear from anyone who might know who is responsible for the dogs’ deaths and can be reached at 856-691-1500. It is offering a $1,000 reward for information in the case.

“It has got to stop and we are really hoping that someone will come forward this time and help us to nail down where it’s coming from,” Greco said.

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