Nearly a dozen pit bulls were found living in deplorable conditions inside a one-bedroom apartment in Bayonne, and now their owner is facing animal cruelty charges.

The dogs were found over the weekend inside the apartment located on Kennedy Boulevard near 23rd Street.

Bayonne police, the New Jersey Humane Society and the SPCA rescued the dogs and puppies from what one investigator called some of the worst conditions he's seen in his career.

“The smell was atrocious,” says Bayonne Animal Cruelty Investigator Geoff Santini. “The dogs had feces and urine all over their legs and bodies because they hadn’t been taken out of cages in God knows how long.”

Santini says that he did not see any leashes, dog food or water in any of the cages.

Pictures released by the NJ Humane Society show that the apartment was filthy, with dirt on the walls and fly traps full of dead bugs. 

Santini says that he believes that the pit bulls were being trained to fight.

"They weren’t domesticated. This is not an animal you keep in your house. And if you crate train it - these weren't crate-trained - these dogs were actually treated like prisoners,” he says.

The dogs are being treated and observed at different animal shelters. Officials say that they hope that most of the dogs can be adopted out to loving families.

“We have to check the temperaments of the adult dogs,” Santini says. “The puppies we will definite get out.”

The owner has signed over nine of the 11 dogs to the New Jersey Humane Society. He has petitioned to keep two of the puppies. This decision will be left to the courts, but at least one Bayonne police officer tells News 12 New Jersey that the owner’s request will likely be denied.