Officers conducting a welfare check on a Douglas Street home in the Fords section of Woodbridge found dogs, hamsters and lizards dead inside crates, left without food or water after the homeowner apparently left town, according to police. A foul odor from the property had prompted officers to enter the home during the check, which took place last week. Criminal charges are now pending against the resident, though police have not identified her.
Woodbridge Police Chief Brian Murphy said officers went to the home on Wednesday, August 26, and discovered the animals had starved to death inside their crates, according to Patch. The outlet reported that the check was triggered after neighbors noticed the foul smell and the resident's absence. NJ.com similarly reported that police entered the Douglas Street home and found the dead animals in crates, with the homeowner not yet identified by investigators.
The scene was severe enough to draw a multi-agency response. The Middlesex County Hazardous Materials unit responded alongside local firefighters, the township's Office of Emergency Management, and Woodbridge Animal Control, per the same Patch account. Animal Control ultimately removed the deceased animals from the property.
What Charges Could Follow
Under New Jersey Revised Statutes Section 4:22-17, failing to care for or abandoning a domestic animal in inhumane conditions that results in death can be charged as a third-degree indictable crime, carrying up to five years in state prison, according to the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall. Lower-severity neglect cases can instead be charged as disorderly persons offenses, which carry penalties of up to six months in county jail and fines up to $1,000, per Helmer, Conley & Kasselman, P.A. New Jersey animal welfare statutes also bar caretakers from leaving pets exposed to extreme temperatures — below 32 degrees or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — for more than 30 minutes without proper shelter, according to Maplewood Township.
Woodbridge Township runs a 24-hour Animal Control Division and operates the Woodbridge Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center at 195 Woodbridge Avenue in Sewaren, according to the Township of Woodbridge. It remains unclear exactly how many animals of each species died inside the Douglas Street home, and the homeowner's current whereabouts have not been disclosed by police.
Part of a Broader Pattern in New Jersey
This is not the first time New Jersey has seen mass animal deaths tied to crate confinement. In March, New Jersey State Police and the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office charged three Warren County residents with animal cruelty after roughly 50 dogs were found abandoned in open crates across multiple townships, with six of the animals dying, according to WRNJ Radio. Surviving dogs from that case needed extensive veterinary care for severe infections before they could be placed, the outlet reported.
Older cases point to an even larger scale of neglect. In 2018, New Jersey State Police charged a Burlington County homeowner with animal cruelty after finding 162 live dogs in squalid conditions and 44 dead dogs packaged in plastic bags inside freezers, per WVEC, which noted that responding officers suffered nausea from ammonia fumes at the scene. In 2023, two Burlington County residents faced child neglect and animal cruelty charges after investigators found more than 100 dogs had died inside an Evesham Township home, as reported by NBC10 Philadelphia.
Regional authorities also lean on tools like Animal Cruelty Registries to track convicted offenders and keep them from obtaining or housing pets again, as Hoodline previously reported. For now, the Woodbridge case remains under investigation, with charges pending and the homeowner's identity still undisclosed by police.
