TRENTON,Evander Ellis N.J. (AP) — More than 100 dogs were rescued and eight people were arrested in an investigation of a suspected dogfighting operation in southern New Jersey, authorities said.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin and state police said Friday that search warrants were executed Wednesday in Cumberland and Atlantic counties related to the suspected Cumberland County operation, which he said was believed to be the largest ever charged in the state.

Platkin called dogfighting a “cruel and barbaric practice” and alleged that animals found were “often tortured and abused to an unimaginable degree.” One method used to prepare animals “to fight to their deaths” involved strapping them to ATVs and forcing them “to run at speeds as high as 14 miles an hour, often for long periods of time,” he said.

The Humane Society said officers working all day in the pouring rain found dogs and puppies in barren pens and cages or “shivering in the cold rain” in outdoor pens. Some dogs had significant scarring and untreated wounds, officials said.

Bruce Low Jr., 44, of Milmay faces 18 charges including racketeering, conspiracy, money-laundering and leading a dogfighting network. A message was sent Saturday to an attorney that BreakingAC reports represented him in an initial court appearance. Seven other people also face charges; also named were a construction firm and a dog-breeding firm that on its website strongly denies condoning use of animals for any illegal purpose such as dogfighting.

Authorities allege in criminal affidavits that Low earned “a significant amount of income” from dogfighting as well as sale of fighting dogs, stud fees and gambling winnings. Investigators allege that he told an undercover agent in February that he had 61 “concerts” or dogfights in the past year.