Animals rescued from Sussex pickup truck faced 'unimaginable' conditions, shelters say

Animal rescue groups scrambled to respond Wednesday to the "unimaginable situation" discovered in Sussex County earlier in the week, when almost 100 cats and dogs − some living, some dead − were found packed into a filthy pickup truck in a strip-mall parking lot.

A total of 46 live animals − 38 dogs and eight cats − were discovered in the vehicle parked near the Marshalls department store in Hampton Township late Monday afternoon, along with at least 40 more that were dead, according to rescue groups.

Morris County-based Eleventh Hour Rescue called the scene "an unimaginable situation of animal cruelty" on its Facebook page. The entire truck was soiled with urine, feces and animal remains, and deceased cats and dogs had been stuffed in garbage bags throughout the vehicle, the organization said.

Three rescued kittens were still nursing and "would not have survived much longer," said Darlene O'Connell, president of the Byram Animal Rescue Kindness Squad (BARKS), in an email to the New Jersey Herald Wednesday. The kittens' mother was so dehydrated and malnourished that she could no longer provide milk, she said.

Police arrested the owner of the truck, Lynn Leonard, 53, of Bloxom, Virginia. She was charged with animal cruelty and released pending a court date, said State Police Lt. Lawrence Peele.

The animals had been living in the vehicle since at least Thursday of last week, according to the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge, known as RBARI. The Oakland-based organization said in a news release that Leonard loaded the animals into her truck after a house fire in Virginia.

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The rescue groups, along with local authorities and animal control officers, spent most of Monday night taking the scared animals out of the pickup one by one.

"The dogs and cats inside the truck were terrified, huddled in all corners," the Bergen shelter said in a statement. "It was painful to see the fear in the faces of these innocent animals."

The group joined forces with the Second Chance Pet Adoption League, based in Oak Ridge, to take in six dogs rescued from the truck. BARKS welcomed five cats and a dog, and four more animals went to Eleventh Hour. Father John's Animal House, in Lafayette, has taken in six dogs and three cats and is posting information on its Facebook page as volunteers prepare the animals for adoption.

Other assisting in the rescue included the Hampton and Newton animal control offices and animal hospitals in Newton and Blairstown.

"As sad as it was to see animals in these conditions, the dedication and efforts of all involved was truly heartwarming," read a post on the Newton Animal Control Facebook page. "All the dogs and cats are safe and on their way to happier lives."

The rescue groups are now appealing to the community to help bring the 46 surviving animals back to full health.

Eleventh Hour and RBARI posted donation links on Facebook, which raised more than $4,800 combined as of Wednesday afternoon. Eleventh Hour also included its online application to foster an animal during its recovery period.

The Byram shelter requested donations of including cat food, bleach, towels, paper towels and Dawn dish detergent, among other items to help care for the animals. Local residents can leave donations at the PetSmart in Hampton or by appointment at the group's shelter at 13 Hampton House Road, both located in the same strip mall where the pickup truck was found.

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O'Connell also invited the public to visit the BARKS website at www.barksinc.com for more information on its animals, including upcoming pet adoption events.

Megan Brinster, executive director at the Ramapo-Bergen refuge, called the animals "special survivors, who have just begun their road to healing." That journey, she said in a statement, will be easier due to the combined efforts of the rescue groups.

"While (Monday) night was a horrific discovery of animal cruelty, the joining together of different organizations to aid these helpless animals was uplifting amid dismay," Brinster said. "We will keep you posted as this story unfolds, and are grateful that at difficult times like these, we have such an incredible rescue community to lean on."

Kyle Morel is a local reporter covering Morris and Sussex counties.

Email: kmorel@njherald.com; Twitter: @KMorelNJH

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Sussex County NJ animal shelter describes dogs found in truck