Highlands Woman Recalls Finding Puppy Left In Cage To Die

HIGHLANDS, NJ — Jennifer Vaz will never forget what she saw on her usual Monday morning walk with her dog: A pit bull puppy trapped in a cage, left on a small beach to drown in the rising tides of the Shrewsbury River.

Vaz, a 32-year-old Highlands resident, recounted the disturbing incident to Patch today. The Monmouth County prosecutor is calling this a case of animal abuse, and one in which they have yet to make an arrest. Now that River, as Vaz named him, has cleared his medical exams with the Monmouth County SPCA, she will actually be fostering the pit bull puppy — he's between 8 months and one year old — and she hopes to eventually adopt him. In fact, she's picking him up Wednesday evening after work.

"I was on my usual morning walk with my Boxer, Molly, and we were on Bay Avenue at Veterans' Memorial Park, when Molly started to pull me in an unusual direction towards the water," Vaz told Patch today. "I figured, it's 6 a.m. I have plenty of time to let her explore. As we went closer to the water, I was just enjoying the sunrise when all of a sudden I heard a whimper. I looked down and all I could see were these eyes looking up at me. I can still see them in my head."

"His eyes just seemed to ask, 'Why? Why is this happening to me? What is going on?' He was shivering and the water was rising," she recalled.

The Shrewsbury River is tidal and someone had deliberately left the pit puppy locked in a cage on a very small patch of sand near a rock outcropping. At that time, the water had only begun to lap at the bottom of his cage and was starting to get the puppy's bottom and paws wet. In another few hours, by 9 a.m. the cage would haven been completely submerged by water, as this photo of the cage, provided by the county prosecutor, shows.

"It would have been a slow death," said Vaz. "I immediately ran down there and the puppy was too scared to even come out of the cage. I had to send Molly in there, and she gave him a lick and it was only then that he cautiously came out. He wasn't barking. I could barely even hear his whimper and I think that's the only reason Molly saved him. I never would have heard him."

Vaz took both dogs to the Highlands police station, only a short walk away. From there, the officers called Animal Control, and the Monmouth County SPCA and the Monmouth County prosecutor's office, which launched a full investigation.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests have been made. Rumors that a man has been arrested for the crime are inaccurate, a spokesman for the county prosecutor's office told Patch.

Vaz took the puppy to her home in Highlands for a few hours Monday before the SPCA came to get him. He was then kept at the SPCA's Eatontown main office for the past two days, and given a full exam, which will be used as part of the criminal investigation. He was not found with any tags or collar on him. There are no cameras near where he was deposited.

Other than skin irritation from the water, River is healthy.

Tonight at 6 p.m., Vaz will go back to collect him and will be fostering him until a formal adoption process can occur. She hopes she and Molly can keep him forever.

"When he was at my house for those few hours on Monday, he was very quiet. He's a very quiet, calm dog. He never barks," she said. "He doesn't leave my side and sits at my feet and stares at me obediently. Molly has really become a real mother hen to him. If he gets rambunctious, she tells him to calm down," she laughed. "I feel the connection that he and Molly have. She really looks out for him, and they should be together."

"I don't understand who would do something like this. They have no soul," said Vaz.

She added —

"I just want to hold him and make sure nothing bad happens to him ever again."

All photos supplied by Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni. He is pictured at the top, along with Monmouth County SPCA Chief Ross Licitra, a veterinarian who cared for River, and Jennifer Vaz, in red.

Past Patch reporting: Dog In A Cage Trapped On Beach As Tide Rose In Highlands