New Jersey

Final Two Dogs Saved From Nightmare NJ Hoarding Situation Get Adopted

Of the nearly 200 dogs rescued from the nightmare hoarding situation in NJ, all have been adopted with the final two going home this week

What to Know

  • While all these dogs were living in wretched conditions just two months ago, it seems all the canines saved are getting a happy ending
  • Of the nearly 200 dogs rescued from the nightmare hoarding situation in NJ, all have been adopted with the final two going home this week
  • Two people were arrested and charged in June after authorities discovered the hoarding situation, officials said

While all these dogs seemed to be doomed while living in wretched conditions just two months ago, it seems all the canines saved are getting a happy ending.

In June, nearly 200 dogs were rescued from a nightmare hoarding situation in New Jersey — some pregnant, many sick and most having had only limited human contact.

Now, the final two Parson Russell terriers still in shelters will be going to new homes this weekend.

The dogs have been in the care of St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center since they were taken from the squalid home in Hunterdon County that was overrun with dogs after a breeder couldn't take care of them anymore.

The first people who adopted a dog from the failed breeder's home said their dog, Cooper, had no idea what a toy or even grass was when they brought him home for the first time. Now he is living life to the fullest with the couple's other rescue dog Frankie, who was adopted from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

That same couple started a Facebook page called "The 188" — after all the dogs that were found — so that all the people who adopted pups from the hoarding situation could keep track of each other.

Two people were arrested and charged in June after authorities discovered the  hoarding situation, officials said.

Martin Strozeski, 66, and Marcia Knoster, 70, each face multiple counts of failing to provide necessary care for the animals, where authorities discovered 20 dead dogs in a freezer and nearly 200 more living in squalid conditions at the home and garage, according to the county prosecutor and state police.

Strozeski said the kennel had fallen on hard times and that he and his business partner "couldn't give (the dogs) away," calling the kennel "a hobby turned bad."

None of the dogs had life-threatening conditions or had to be taken to emergency animal hospitals, but it appeared they had been kept in cages, said Nora Parker, spokeswoman for the St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center. She said some had skin or fur conditions that needed immediate treatment.

"This was obviously a breeder at one time," Parker said after the dogs were saved. "Things were obviously out of control here. We don't know what was going on behind the scenes. Until they finish investigating, we just don't know what went wrong.”

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