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The Doddridge County Sheriff's Office is investigating the abuse and associated crimes related to the dumping of 30 dogs.
The animals have been taken to the Ritchie County Humane Society.
The sheriff's department says its possible the crime was committed outside of Ritchie and Doddridge Counties and that those two counties merely served as dumping grounds for the animals that were found alive, suffering from severe mange and illness.
The incident started Sunday, when two women came by the Ritchie County Humane Society with a pickup truck full of dogs that were found abandoned on Sugar Run Road in Doddridge County.
"Twenty-one small dogs had extreme mange, very, very long fingernails, no hair on most of them, in terrible, terrible condition," said Kitty Ray, shelter director at the Ritchie County Humane Society.
Authorities are saying there were more dogs on the road where the others came from. Officers and volunteers drove out to the road where they discovered ten more dogs, one already dead, and another that looked to be pregnant.
People from both counties think there must be a puppy mill nearby to have so many dogs appear at once.
"This is the first time that I've seen something like that. This, I never want to see this again, and I hope the people that did this are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Deborah Moyers, who works with the Ritchie County Humane Society.
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