86 pets rescued from ‘horrific’ NJ home: 12 killed, the rest need your help

WEST NEW YORK — A dozen of the 86 animals found inside a small apartment in this Hudson County town had to be euthanized after a vet found they had open wounds, respiratory problems and bites.

West New York Director of Health Gina Miranda-Diaz, said 81 cats and five dogs were discovered in the apartment on Friday after a neighbor noticed a noxious odor coming from one of the apartments. The police found cats stacked in crates along a 12-foot wall and dogs hiding in closets.

Diaz said 10 of the cats had to be euthanized and 10 are in quarantine; 37 cats will be available for adoption and are being kept at the Public Works garage and several area shelters. The town will team up with the Rotary Club for a pet adoption fair on June 25. The process to adopt a cat will be posted on the

Some of the dogs were kept in cages and could not move. They were found with such matted down, feces-filled fur they had to be shaved clean.

Police and officials went to the home on Friday and the person answering the door denied having any animals and closed the door, according to Diaz, who said daughter Alexandra Torres came back and started crying over concern the animals would be hurt.

The animals were kept in the apartment’s bedrooms and bathroom with newspapers spread all over, urine soaked rugs, an unusable shower and a strong odor throughout. Diaz said officials and volunteers were sweating in their Tyrex hazmat suits as they checked the apartment. Some threw up from the smells.

Eveline Bernacet, 66, Jenny Guevara, 43, and Torres, 20 were each charged with 86 counts of animal cruelty and 11 summons according to Diaz, who said all three have posted $10,000 bail and have a court hearing on June 6.

Diaz said that Nurhan Ezik of the Englewood Veterinary Center worked for hours and examined each of the animals and came to the apartment after realizing the enormity of the situation as the animals were brought to his office. "He is an awesome individual," Diaz said.

TLC Rescue is one of the shelters looking that took in the cats during the long holiday  weekend.

"These cats are in dire need of your help. No one expected to have this many cats in an urgent situation so suddenly, no one has the capacity to take them all but if we come together we can save them and after what they have been through, I think it is the least we can do," the shelter wrote on their Facebook page. The shelter said despite what they have been through, "there was not so much as a hiss or a swat."

The shelter also posted an Amazon wish list of items needed to care for the kittens including dry and canned food, litter and bedding