HASTINGS, Mich. -- A group of dog rescuers claim that a man in Barry County is running an unsafe puppy mill.
The group said that they've made several trips to the home and have rescued a total of 16 puppies since July.
The animal rescuers recorded videos they alleged show frozen water bowls in the dog kennels.
Barry County Animal Control paid a visit to the home again on Tuesday and asked the homeowner to contact them.
The rescue group said that they traveled from the east side of the state just last Friday and took another 10 puppies. They said that they paid the breeder $4,000 to take the 10 dogs out of the home.
Angela Mozer is helping take care of the eight-week-old Australian shepherds. Mozer said that she first saw a post online with the breeder advertising his puppies for sale. She said that the pictures online were enough to motivate her to travel to Hastings and take six dogs in July.
Mozer also said that many of the dogs have little to no human contact. They also said that, because of inbreeding, many of the dogs have health issues. "I have a double merle dog of his that I took in July," said Mozer, "and he has a problem with one eye, but he can see out of the other eye," said Mozer.
Mozer said that the group filmed video last Friday showing the harsh conditions, including the frozen water bowls inside the kennels.
"Water buckets were frozen," said Mozer. "They did have some hay down, a little bit of kibble in their cages."
Paige Richardson took in one of the puppies last Saturday to foster. She said that when she visited the Hastings home where the dogs were born, she was horrified by what she saw. "The dogs, several of them had injuries. One was missing an entire paw, and it was just limping around. One had a fresh wound on its face."
Barry County Animal Control said that they investigated the Hastings breeder back in July after receiving complaints. After evidence was submitted, the prosecutor's office decided to not press charges.
Mozer said that the rescue group will continue to fight to prevent anymore breeding from taking place at the home. That group is now caring for 16 Australian shepherds and hope to give them long, healthy lives
"They've had their vaccines, they've had their fleas removed, they've been groomed," said Mozer.
Animal control also said that they are again investigating the man who lives at the home after they received more complaints.
As of now, no charges have been filed.
