52 dogs removed from ‘deplorable conditions’ at Trenton house

TRENTON — More than 50 dogs were rescued Tuesday from what animal advocates called a "horrific hoarding situation" after the city received a complaint about a stench coming from a house.

The Inspection Department received the call 10 a.m. regarding 834 State St., according to city spokesman Santiago Melli-Huber, who said inspectors found the dogs and began the process of removing 52 adult and puppy Yorkshire terriers, Rottweilers and mastiffs.

The homeowner, James Marshall, 57, is being charged with two counts of 4th degree on a summons, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office. He had a first appearance in Mercer County Superior Cour on July 11.

Trenton police, Trenton Animal Control and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office enlisted the aide of the Trenton Animals Rocks shelter to examine and clean the dogs.

The shelter said on Facebook that three dogs were hospitalized at at Cares Animal Hospital in Bucks County and two dogs were in critical condition.

"I want to say in my almost 16 years of volunteering here I’ve never seen a situation like this but I have to say we received so much help," an administrator of the Trenton Animal Shelter News Facebook page said.

The shelter is looking for donations for the care of the dogs and for volunteers to foster the larger dogs before they go up for adoption.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ