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PHOTOS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SPCA
A public defender entered a not-guilty plea for Gabrielle Ganter, whom Central Municipal Court Judge Louis Dinice ordered remain held on $5,000 bail.
Although the trial could begin next week, motions may need to be heard and other matters addressed first, the judge said.
Ganter turned herself in to Belleville police yesterday, after which she was picked up by Bergen County Sheriff’s officers, sources with direct knowledge of the case told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
She’d chopped her hair, leaving bald spots in some places.
A judge issued a warrant for Ganter’s arrest 10 days ago after she failed to show up for what had already been a postponed court hearing.
Ganter, 30, who operated Pit Bull Kisses Rescue out of Newark, requested an extension in writing from a Central Municipal Court judge so that she could hire an attorney, courthouse sources in Hackensack told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
She then skipped court on June 30, and the judge issued the $5,000 bench warrant.
As CLIFFVIEW PILOT reported exclusively, Bergen County SPCA investigators early last month filed 26 charges of animal cruelty and neglect against Ganter following an investigation that included necroposies.
Gabrielle Ganter / IMAGE: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SPCA
The complaints include not providing food, water, proper shelter or veterinary care under Title 4:22-17.
Police alerted SPCA investigators after finding the dead animals in plastic garbage bags in the house and the live dogs — as well as a starved cat — chained in the yard without proper shelter.
Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SPCA
“They were were extremely thin,” one law enforcement official told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, adding that conditions inside the house were “horrid.”
Bergen County Animal Control removed the carcasses and live animals from the Brook Avenue residence on May 13. An investigation leading to the charges against Ganter followed.
The live dogs and cat continued to be held at the Bergen County Animal Shelter pending the closure of the case, after which authorities said there could be adoptions.
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MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF
PHOTO: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SPCA
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REPORT animal cruelty or neglect in Bergen County (CALL 201-573-8900 or CLICK BANNER below)
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