The Nova Scotia SPCA has seized 20 dogs, four puppies and four rabbits from a puppy mill in Annapolis County.
The dogs arrived at the SPCA shelter in Dartmouth for medical care and full veterinary exams on Thursday afternoon.
The property owner had several outstanding warrants, according to investigators, and was arrested by RCMP officers who accompanied the SPCA officials to the site.
Jo-Anne Landsburg, chief provincial investigator for the Nova Scotia SPCA, warned people not to get sucked into buying from puppy mills.
“When you’re purchasing or buying a puppy, look to local shelters,” she said. “These were certainly substandard conditions that these dogs were living in.”
Investigators say the dogs had severe matting and urine-stained fur, and that conditions were so bad on the property that they had no choice except to take the animals.
The investigation is ongoing and animal cruelty charges are pending.