Highlands Dog Left To Drown In Cage Has A New Foster Home

HIGHLANDS, NJ — Update: A new potential foster home for River has been found!

"As of a couple of hours ago we found a great potential foster home," Lindsay Sanator of the Monmouth County SPCA told Patch on Wednesday. "River is getting neutered today and will have a behavior and medical assessment. After the foster home check/background check, he should be with his new foster family next week."

River, the pit bull puppy left to drown in a cage in the Shrewsbury River in Highlands earlier this summer, needs a forever home.

He was being fostered by Jennifer Vaz, the 32-year-old Highlands woman who found the pit puppy shivering in his cage as the tide rose in the river early in the morning, around dawn, on July 31. Vaz was out walking her Boxer, Molly, when they found the puppy crying for help.

However — sadly — Molly has not been adjusting well to River's presence and Vaz said Sunday she was forced to give him back to the Monmouth County SPCA. The SPCA will hold onto him until the criminal investigation is complete and after that point, he will need a forever home to adopt him.

Vaz said she originally planned on formally adopting River, but her Boxer had a hard time adjusting.

"I had to give River back to the Monmouth County SPCA for a few reasons," Vaz wrote on Facebook on Aug. 12. "1) Molly has not been transitioning well with River in our home. 2) Molly stopped eating and drinking 3) She refused to participate with the family. 4) She has been very lethargic. After consulting with my family, the SPCA and my vet for the best interest of Molly's health it would be better if River was fostered by someone else. This has been an incredibly difficult time for Chris and I. Thank you for giving us the time to grieve."

The man who police say deliberately left River to drown turned himself in early Tuesday morning last week. Aaron D. Davis, 36, of Long Branch, surrendered to authorities Aug. 7. The Monmouth County prosecutor says Davis had abandoned the caged dog near the water's edge in an attempt to drown the animal. His exact reasoning for doing so has not been released by the county prosecutor's office.

When Vaz found him around sunrise on July 31 the water had already come into the cage, had reached the puppy's paws, and was continuing to rise. He was too scared to even come out of the cage until Molly licked him and coaxed him out, Vaz told Patch.

If convicted of the third degree crime of animal cruelty, Davis faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in a New Jersey state prison.

"We're looking for a foster to adopt, for someone who's going to keep him forever," Ross Licitra, the chief and executive director of the Monmouth County SPCA, told NJ.com. He also said that because River is an non-neutered young male dog, he thinks he may have become too active and aggressive, leading Molly, an older female, to become withdrawn. The SPCA plans to neuter him.

Ongoing Patch reporting on River: Man Sought In Attempted Dog Drowning Still At Large
Highlands Woman Recalls Finding Puppy Left In Cage To Die
Dog In A Cage Trapped On Beach As Tide Rose In Highlands
Aug. 7 Rally In Highlands, NJ For Dog Left In Cage To Drown

Photos supplied by the Monmouth County prosecutor and Jennifer Vaz.