On Monday afternoon, firefighters responding to an apartment fire in the Bronx, New York, got quite a surprise when they broke into the apartment and found 14 pit bulls that had been injured by smoke and fire.

After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters, as well as an official from the nonprofit group Animal Care and Control of New York City, carried all 14 pit bulls, including several palm-sized puppies, out to a rescue vehicle. Several of the dogs had cuts, and some seemed emaciated. Some of the dogs were given oxygen masks by firefighters on the street.

One of the firefighters stated that when they first broke into the apartment, the dogs were fighting so they were sprayed with a chemical extinguisher in order to break them up.

It was unclear if the animals’ condition warranted criminal charges. Richard Gentles, a spokesman for Animal Care and Control, said the group had not yet decided what action to take since officials had yet to reach the owner or fully evaluate the dogs’ medical condition.

Several neighbors however, said they believed that the owner was breeding dogs in order to sell them.

“I called the A.S.P.C.A. and 311 and nobody did nothing,” said Humberto Portuondo, 50, a truck driver who lives underneath Apartment 6J where the fire occurred and whose own apartment was partly flooded by water dripping through the ceiling. “I could hear them day and night, fighting and barking and running around. The smell is very strong.”

Another neighbor, Adonis Rodriguez, 18, said the dog owner treated the animals well, and got along with most neighbors.

“He was breeding them, not fighting them,” he said, standing on the sixth floor, next to the burned-out apartment.

But Rolando Arencieba, 25, a pit bull owner who lives two blocks away, disagreed. “I saw them giving the dogs oxygen,” he said. “You could see their spines and ribs — they had no stomachs.”

By Elaine Furst For Dog Files