WAN’s Most Wanted: Help Find Cruel Culprit Who Left A Caged Dog To Drown At A Beach In New Jersey!

Photos from Monmouth County SPCA, Facebook

In an appalling case of animal cruelty, a puppy was found abandoned in a cage on a beach in Highlands, New Jersey; cowering as the tide began to rise around him.

Fortunately, Jennifer Vaz, noticed the terrified dog while on a walk with her own four-legged family member. Vaz, who is currently fostering the dog she named River, heroically climbed over a wall to save his life.

It is believed that the dog, who is approximately one-year-old, was left at the beach between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning.

The dog, who had not been microchipped and did not have a collar on, was taken to the Highlands Police Department, which alerted the county’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals center (SPCA) and eventually the prosecutor’s office.

“Early this morning, a darling pittie mix now named River was found on the beach locked in a crate in Veterans Memorial Park on Bay Avenue in Highlands. As the tide came in, the water began to reach the crate and could have drowned him if he hadn’t been spotted by a Good Samaritan,” the Monmouth County SPCA posted on its Facebook page. “Although River is a bit shaken up, he is in good physical shape and seems to have been well cared for.”

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office is now requesting the public’s assistance about the dog and who his owner may have been.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the Highlands Police Department, and the Monmouth County SPCA are working together to help bring justice to River.

Anyone with information about the dog or its owner should contact the Monmouth County Cruelty Hotline at (877) 898-7297 or the Highlands Police Department at (732) 872-1224.