Shocking Find at Another Just Pups Store in Paramus, Police Say

By Daniel Hubbard/Paramus Patch editor

Paramus, N.J. – Police made a shocking discovery Monday morning at yet another Just Pups pet store: They found 50 puppies and small dogs, some unable to stand and others covered in feces, being kept in a freezing-cold van near the Just Pups store on Route 17 South in Paramus Monday morning, authorities said.

The alleged discovery comes exactly one week after Just Pups owner Vincent LoSacco saw his East Brunswick Just Pups store shut down by the East Brunswick Township Council. The Township voted to revoke his license after the NJSPCA charged him with 267 animal cruelty violations at that location in February of this year. LoSacco owns multiple Just Pups stores throughout New Jersey.

Paramus police were patrolling the store parking lot when they saw a 2002 Freightlinder Sprinter van parked in the lot and heard crying and whining coming from inside, said Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg.

The officers entered the van through an unlocked door and found 50 puppies and small dogs inside several small metal crates containing two to four dogs each, the chief said.

Some of the crates were so small the dogs couldn’t stand up inside them, Ehrenberg said. Some of them did not have food and water and some of the dogs were covered in feces.

The temperature inside the van was 38 degrees, only a few degrees higher than the 35-degrees it was outside, Ehrenberg said. A propane tank in the back of the van was connected to a space heater, police said, which was “ineffective” in heating the inside of the van. The van was also not properly ventilated, police said.

The van is registered to Just Pups, police said.

The puppies were transported to Oradell Animal Hospital for treatment. Additionally, 15 of them needed “further medical treatment,” Ehrenberg said. All of the puppies were alive as of 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The Paramus Health Department closed the Just Pups store pending an investigation.

The Bergen County Animal Cruelty Task Force, Paramus police detectives, and the Paramus Health Department are conducting the investigation. Now that his East Brunswick store has been closed down, and his Paramus outlet is temporarily closed, LoSacco still operates two other Just Pups dog stores, one in East Hanover and one in Emerson.

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