Metro

Dozens of dogs rescued from Bx. basement

 No one heard them barking.

Nearly 50 dogs were rescued today from a windowless Bronx basement where cops busted an abusive dog fighting ring that had been secretly going on for more than a year.

Cops arrested Raul Sanchez, 57, the building’s superintendent and hit him with several animal fighting felony charges.

Officials said the dogs – mostly pit bulls, and some of them puppies – were stacked in cages in Sanchez’s small, underground studio apartment.

Residents of the Sherman Avenue apartment building said they had no idea there was a virtual kennel in the basement. Their only clue was the stench.

“It was determined that this location was being used to warehouse, sell, train and engage in fighting activities,” said NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Favale.

“The dogs appear to be in various stages of abuse and injury. the most surprising thing is that you didn’t really hear the dogs.”

Favale described the conditions as “deplorable.”

Until the dogs were tagged and let out by cops and the ASPCA, many of them had never seen the light of day, officials said.

The depraved dogs were herded –sometimes two at a time — into filthy cages that were stacked along the walls of the super’s small unit.

Officials said other areas of the basement, including the boiler room, were also used to house, train and fight the dogs.

Investigators found 22 crude, wooden cages approximately 18 by 20 by 24 inches in dimension and multiple pet carriers.

They also recovered treadmills, harnesses, muzzles, syringes and a shopping cart full of raw chicken parts.

“It was terrible in there,” said Detective Rose Muckenthaler, a member of the NYPD Vice Enforcement Division Major Case Unit.

Cops also recovered a loaded .25-caliber handgun.

Officials said some of the dogs had pre-existing scars and visible wounds of varying degrees. But they all were responsive, and in otherwise good condition.

They were removed by the ASPCA and taken to an animal shelter.

“Organized dog-fighting is a brutal form of animal abuse where dogs are exploited and forced to fight as their owners profit from their torture,” said Howard Lawrence, senior director of the ASPCA’s humane law enforcement division.

“We are determined to protect our nation’s animals from this form of cruelty.”

Neighbors said they never saw the super with more than two dogs outside of the building.

When they asked him to explain the stench, he told them that a rat had died.

“He was cool,” said Maurice Himes, 32, a school custodian who lives in the building. “He was quiet. I never knew he had that many dogs down there.”

“The cops were asking if we heard barking,” said neighbor Raymond Caro, 37. “I told them no. The only thing was the smell in the elevator. It smells like something rotted. It stinks.”

Cops said the investigation remains ongoing. The man in custody had not yet been charged.

leonard.greene@nypost.com