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Massive Adoption Effort For 51 Dogs Seized From Anne Arundel Co. Home

MILLERSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- Fifty-one dogs seized from a home in Anne Arundel County are headed to new homes.   

Alex DeMetrick has more on the massive adoption effort. 

It was the largest case of what authorities are calling "animal hoarding" in Anne Arundel County history. It has brought an unprecedented number of animal lovers looking for new pets.

The dogs take up an entire aisle of cages at the Anne Arundel County Animal Shelter. Ranging from puppies to full-grown, the 51 dogs were seized from a home a few days ago.

"Clearly it's a problem when people hoard these dogs. They are supposed to have a license if they have more than four dogs. It could be a misdemeanor violation here for the owner," said John Leopold, Anne Arundel County Executive. "But I think the owner wanted to do a good thing, but good intentions are sometimes really not good enough. We want to make sure the dogs are healthy and the people are healthy."

Nearly all of the dogs went up for adoption at 10 a.m. and scores of people began lining up hours beforehand hoping to take home a new pet.

"I love dogs and animals," said Nalo Ford, who is adopting a dog. "I am so excited. Hopefully I will get one." 

"We were very excited to know that they were in good health, that this gentleman just got a little bit overwhelmed.  But he took good care of the dogs, so that was nice to know," said Daisy Sudano, adopting dog.

The dogs are mostly yorkies, poodles and dogs mixed from both breeds. People were let in in small groups to see the animals in numbers never before seen at the shelter.

"Highly unusual. It's the biggest dog hoarding case we can think of in Anne Arundel County's history. It's $56 for a female dog and $41 for the male. That includes spaying, neutering and all the shots," said Lt. Glenn Shanahan, Anne Arundel County Animal Control. "I think it's the best deal in town."

It's also a good deal for the dogs, whose stay at the shelter will be a short one.

The dogs still need to be spayed and neutered, so it will be a few days before they arrive at their new homes.

Because the dogs were well cared for, the owner won't face any animal abuse charges.

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