Volunteers from Wichita were among the dozens of people helping to rescue dogs from an Iowa puppy mill.

In the next few days some of them will be brought back here, to Wichita, and put up for adoption.

“Our goal is to get those animals into loving, family homes,” WAAL Marketing Coordinator, Stephanie McCurdy said.

The Wichita Animal Action League sent three volunteers to Iowa to help in the raid of a puppy mill that had caged nearly 170 dogs.

“We’ve been looking into it for about a year, trying to work with the owners of the property to relinquish more of the dogs and slow down the operation and get it cleaned up. But we were met with a lot of resistance,” Worth County Sheriff’s Office's Sheriff Dan Frank said.

Working with the ASPCA and other animal rescue groups the dogs are being taken first for treatment.

“We are assisting the ASPCA in a lot of aspects including behavioral analysis type activities, just daily care, cleaning, feeding watering,” WAAL Founder and Executive Director, Sarah Coffman said in a Facebook video.

The dogs are all Samoyeds, known as strong work dogs with a gentle nature. They were being kept in dirty kennels with little protection from the below freezing temperatures and had no access to clean water.

“What we’re dealing with is extremely overcrowded conditions,” said Tim Rickey, Vice President of ASPCA Field Investigations and Response.

The WAAL volunteers are hoping to be back in Wichita next week. But they're in need of fosters to care for the dogs once they do arrive. The more people who volunteer to foster one of the dogs, the more dogs they can bring from Iowa.

“All the animals that we will take or another rescue will take will all be completely vetted before they leave and then some of those will come back to Wichita to be adopted,” McCurdy said.

If you’re interested in adopting one of these dogs or would like to help out The Wichita Animal Action League through fostering or donations, you can get in touch with them on their website.


Previous story:

Officials say nearly 170 dogs showing signs of neglect in filthy kennels have been seized from an overcrowded puppy mill in northern Iowa.

A news release on the Worth County Sheriff's Office website says the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took the animals away for medical and other care after deputies served a warrant Monday. It described the dogs — all Samoyeds — as "fearful and undersocialized."

Members of the Wichita Animal Action League traveled to Iowa to assist the ASPCA.

Sheriff Dan Fank says investigators were still scouring the scene and that animal neglect charges are pending against the owner.

Officials say the dogs were kept in kennels that provided minimal protection from the elements and that they had no access to clean water.

Contributing: KAKE News