Petition Calls For State To Shut Down Just Pups Store

PARAMUS, N.J. – Nearly 159,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the state to inspect multiple Just Pups pet stores and close the chain's East Brunswick location.

The petition was started after three dead dogs were found in a freezer inside the Just Pups pet store in East Brunswick in February, the state said.

More people signed the petition after Paramus police found dozens of puppies in a van outside the chain’s Paramus location early Monday morning.

Paramus police said 50 puppies and small dogs were crammed into cages too small for them to stand up inside the 38-degree van. The dogs were covered in their own feces. Police found the dogs while patrolling the area at about 3 a.m. after they heard crying and wining coming from inside the van, authorities said.

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

Related: 50 Dogs Found in Freezing Van Outside Paramus Pet Store

The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals filed 267 counts of animal cruelty against the New Brunswick store and it was shut down. The chain has stores in Emerson and East Hanover as well.

LoSocco said that he and his employees were “totally innocent of all these allegations.” He said when an inspector found the dogs in the freezer he was “just as shocked as her.”

Related: Dead Dogs Could Have Been in Freezer 'For Months,' Pet Store Owner Says

LoSacco has created a Facebook page and posted two videos on YouTube defending the chain.

“Neither I, nor any employee of mine, is guilty of any of the crimes that this one single NJSPCA officer has filed against me," LoSacco said in a video. He noted that inspections were done in late February and early March at the chain's other locations, but no charges were filed.

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Some of the dogs found inside the van./Courtesy of Paramus Police Department