Nearly 200 dogs were rescued from filthy conditions at an abandoned home in a remote area of the Southern California high desert.
San Bernardino County animal control officers received a tip last Friday about a dozen dogs being kept at the home in Lucerne Valley. When they arrived, they found 191 dogs, some of them puppies, stacked on top of each other in small kennels and fenced off by planks of wood.
There was no water or power at the home, said Brian Cronin, chief of Animal Control.
Their owner has not been identified.
The dogs, which covered a wide spectrum of breeds, were taken to the Devore Animal Shelter, where groomers were preparing them for adoption.
“They’re in pretty bad condition,” said Amy Morrissey of Cutie Pies Grooming Salon. “They have a lot of matting and it seems like they’ve been sitting in a lot of urine and feces.”
The dogs cannot be put up for adoption right away because an owner has not been found and the case is under investigation, officials said.
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“I’m willing to take one or two home. We have one at home but they need friends,” said a visitor at the shelter.
