11 Pit Bulls Rescued From Squalid New Jersey Apartment: Police

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Authorities have charged a Bayonne man with 11 counts of animal cruelty after allegedly finding a large group of pit bulls living in a squalid, one-bedroom apartment.

Police discovered the cache of animals on Friday evening at a Kennedy Boulevard home after receiving a complaint that dogs were being kept in crates and bred to fight, according to a news release from the Bayonne Police Department.

Inside the residence of William Shaw, 46, officers found "inhumane" and "unsanitary” conditions including food-deprived puppies and newspapers covered in feces stuck to the floor, Bayonne authorities told NJ.com.

"The dogs were injured, undernourished and overcrowded in the crates," Bayonne police stated.

Police allowed two of the dogs to remain with Shaw after releasing him from custody on a summons.

The New Jersey Humane Society is providing veterinary care to the nine remaining dogs, and the Bayonne Health Department will be launching an investigation, police stated.

"Allegations of the dogs being bred for fighting could not be substantiated at this time," Bayonne police stated Tuesday.

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