The ASPCA says the adult pit bull and four puppies found in a trash bag that had been lit on fire and left to burn near a Dumpster in Brooklyn were dead before they were placed in the bag and there is no evidence of animal cruelty.
Workers at a beverage distribution warehouse on East 91st Street in Canarsie found the burnt bag early Saturday.
Authorities had initially believed they were investigating a particularly gruesome case of animal cruelty, but the ASPCA told NBC 4 New York Friday necropsies conducted on the animals shows the dogs were dead before they were put in the bag.
The ASPCA said the adult dog died of natural causes while she was giving birth and that someone had tried to perform a C-section on the deceased animal to save the puppies, but the puppies had died when their mother did.
The remains of all five animals were then put in the trash bag and dumped by a group of men seen on surveillance cameras pulling up to the warehouse in a minivan, lighting the bag on fire and driving away.
The ASPCA, which conducted the necropsies, says the group who dumped the dogs is not responsible for their deaths and the agency is calling off its animal cruelty investigation.
The FDNY continues to investigate the fire.
