The Grundy County Sheriffs Office arrested a 72-year-old woman for aggravated cruelty to animals after more than 200 dogs were rescued and the remains of hundreds of other dogs were found at her property.
Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum said a search warrant for Margaret Allanson's property was granted this weekend after several reports came in about a potentially dangerous environment for an estimated 62 dogs.
"When we got on the property we found 211 dogs," Shrum said. "Through the investigation, we found out two things. One was that this property had become a dumpsite for strays. She was also breeding some of these dogs and selling the pups on a local sales networking site and profiting off that."
Shrum said it was clear to investigators early on that Allanson's overall health was a concern for the sheriff's office, as well as getting the dogs to a safe place.
"One of the things that was alarming to us was that her health is not good, the house seemed to be uninhabitable, so while she'll face the charges, we're going to work on getting her some assistance," Shrum said.
Grundy County does not have any kind of animal control, nor does it have local ordinances regarding animal cruelty. The county follows state law, and Shrum said administrations in the past had overlooked the issue at Allanson's property.
"It has gone on for years, but nobody took the time to look into it for some reason," he said.
Animal rescue organizations had previously visited Allanson's property in 2012 and removed some animals but the sheriff's office "refused to get involved," Shrum said.
Over the weekend, Dogs on Borrowed Time - a nonprofit animal rescue group based in Grundy County - was one of 13 animal rescue organizations that helped remove the dogs from the property. Other rescue organizations traveled from Ohio, Kentucky and other parts of the region to help move the dogs.
Shrum said it took about 30 people and 20 hours over two days to fully address the situation.
Along with the dogs that were rescued, the group found the remains of hundreds of dogs in what Shrum described as "a bone yard."
On Dogs on Borrowed Time's Facebook page, over 80 photos were posted showing the skulls of "hundreds of deceased animals."
Shrum said the focus now is to make sure all the dogs are OK and that Allanson gets the attention she needs.
"We probably saved her life," he said. "It's a sad situation, but we're all glad to have the dogs rescued."
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.