A year long investigation led investigators in the east to what they're calling a puppy mill.
300 dogs were confiscated from Thorton’s Kennels on Highway 13 near Goldsboro. Wayne County Animal Control and the Human Society say all 300 were neglected and mistreated.
For some of these dogs, today is their first ever glimpse of life outside a cage. They have been kept in sheds for breeding for years.
Justin Scally with Wayne County Animal Control said, "This is probably the most dogs that I’ve seen at a particular address during an investigation."
Scally said because of the number of dogs they had to deal with they had to call in the Humane Society.
Scotlund Haisley with the Humane Society explained, "We see a lot of puppy mills all the time. This is on a scale of one to ten probably a seven or an eight."
While puppy mills are legal in North Carolina, the Humane Society thinks the law should change.
"Theirs no such thing as a humane puppy mill," said Haisley.
Authorities could charge the property owner, Virginia Thornton, with animal neglect and cruelty.
Investigators say whey they arrived this morning they found puppies covered in their own filth with serious medical conditions.
Haisley said, "As we're pulling these dogs out of their cages, it's very clear to us that many of them, six, eight, ten years old, have never even felt the security of solid ground. They live on wire crates their entire lives."
The puppies that are born at these mills are sold to pet stores.
"They’re property, they’re a product, they’re not a pet. They're not a living creature as far as the property owners concerned," said Haisley.
Haisley says around 4 million puppy mill dogs are sold in the US each year.
The dogs rescued today were taken to an emergency shelter set up at the Wayne County Regional Fairgrounds.
The Humane Society believes there are around ten thousand puppy mills in the United States.
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