A woman who found a dog in bad shape in her neighborhood brought the first pup into the SPCA on Monday. Two hours later, another individual brought in a second poodle mix in the same condition.
"Immediately a red flag went up because these are litter mates. When you see one or two like this there's more involved," said Bev Greco of the SPCA.
Three more were later brought in. The puppies fur was so matted and dirtied, most of it had to be shaved off. That's when officials noticed something even more disturbing.
"When we first brought them in, we started clipping them down and then we saw a gapping wound on his neck area," said Greco.
"I was mortified. It made me sick. It made me sick," said Sandy Corrado.
She was one of the residents in Vineland who called police when she noticed two more puppies.
"It's heart wrenching. These poor little things can't do anything for themselves," said Corrado.
She was there tonight when the SPCA came for them. Officials believe they all were from the same area. They want to catch the people who were keeping the dogs in such deplorable conditions.
The SPCA hopes someone will be able to identify the owner of these dogs.
They will be cleaned up, nursed back to health and put up for adoption.
