PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) -- Around 1,000 dogs were taken from a Parkersburg-area kennel after authorities said they were kept in cages for breeding and were never let out and rarely, if ever, touched by a human being.
Humane Society rescuers said the dogs, mostly adult purebred dachshunds, stumble when they try to walk on grass, tile or carpet because they've spent their entire lives on wire mesh floors.
"Imagine you live your entire life inside your house -- one room inside your house -- and you never leave it,'' Maryann Hollis, director of the Humane Society of Parkersburg, told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel for Monday's edition. "Once a week, somebody dropped groceries at your door. That's what life was like for these dogs -- just one room, wire mesh, and you pooped where you slept.''
The animals were surrendered by Whispering Oaks Kennel Saturday after Wood County sheriff's deputies investigating possible dog-related pollution executed a search warrant at the Internet-based dog-breeding business.
The humane society calls it the largest animal rescue in the state's history.
Wood County Prosecutor Ginny Conley said the owner, Sharon Roberts, hasn't been cited for animal neglect but has agreed to never operate a dog-breeding business again.
Conley said that while these weren't the worst conditions she's ever seen, it's impossible for anyone to properly care for that many dogs.
Roberts told The Associated Press she was the victim of a "witch hunt'' by animal rights activists. Reached by phone, she said she wanted to tell her side of the story but would have to be called back later.
She told the Charleston Daily Mail that the dogs were well cared for by herself and her five employees. Each dog was wormed and vaccinated and regularly visited by a veterinarian, she said.
(AP Photo/Best Friends Animal Society)
