Tallassee Police, Elmore County Sheriff's investigators and the Elmore County Humane Society convinced an elderly couple to surrender the 17 animals, who are now on their way to a better life.
Most of the dogs have matted, dirty coats and itchy, flea-infested skin. In all, eight full-grown Yorkies and nine very young puppies are on their way to get medicated baths, veterinary care and love at the Elmore County Humane Society.
"I can't wait until they have a life with families and lay on the sofa or a bed and are played with or snuggled and loved on and learn what that is about. Not just used as breeding stock, that is what I hope for them," said Rea Cord, executive director of the Humane Society of Elmore County.
Tallassee Police say the couple, who lived at the home on Taylor Road, bred animals for more than 40 years.
Investigators say most of the dogs were kept in small cages, stacked on top of one another in an outdoor trailer. The dogs were rarely let out cages soiled with mud, rancid food, water, feces and urine.
"Our focus has been the welfare of the animals and this is a couple raising animals for 40 years and it got to the point at their age not able to take care of these animals," said Tallassee Police Chief Jimmy Rogers.
But they continued to breed them and sell the puppies. If they're so disabled, how did they put the ads online to sell the puppies? How did they drive to meet someone in a parking lot to collect the cash?
Chief Rogers says the elderly couple, who struggle with health issues, will not face any charges because they cooperated with investigators, surrendered the animals and agreed to stop their breeding business. They are also not being identified.
And what happens when you find out they've opened up a new puppy mill - think how many thousands of dollars they collected - I'm sure none of it was reported to the IRS - they aren't just going to give that up. And how many people purchased sickly dogs or dogs that had inherited medical issues because these people were randomly breeding dogs. How many puppies died for lack of vet care? How many females were bred to death churning out litter after litter? Don't feel sorry for them because "they're elderly". Hoarding is a mental illness; running a puppy mill is nothing but greed.
Charge them criminally, waive the fines and court costs since they're elderly and probably poor now that they aren't selling puppies for $500+ apiece, put them on unsupervised probation for the next five years. Include in the plea agreement that authorities can check periodically to ensure they aren't breeding dogs.
It's now up to the already overpopulated Elmore County Humane Society to step in and care for the animals. It's a job they are passionate about doing, but need your support and donations to continue.
"Donations are always welcome because these 17 come on top of the 250 so that are already at the shelter," said Cord.
It's going to be a while before the Yorkies are ready for adoption. First priority is getting them healthy, spayed and neutered. Then they will need to be fostered, because again they've lived their entire lives in cages and not around people.
You can visit the Elmore County Humane Society online by clicking here, and check back for updates on the dogs regarding when they will be ready for adoption.
(WTVM - May 4, 2016)
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