This is an update on rescued Yorkies. They were all adopted
Eyewitness News brought you the story of 60 puppies that were victims of a puppy mill owner in Pahrump. They were kept in horrible conditions and had numberous problems.
As of Friday afternoon, the Southern Nye County Friends of Animals tells us all the dogs have been adopted.
(Nov. 23) -- Nye County Animal Control has shutdown a puppy mill, and now the owner is facing 68 counts of animal cruelty. Eyewitness News has the exclusive story.
The conditions inside the Pahrump home were so deplorable; it is amazing that these dogs survived. Vie Keller with the Southern Nye County Friends of Animals says of a Yorkie, "I named him Caesar because when I met him he had the heart of a Caesar. He was meant to live."
It is a miracle that this little Yorkie, or the 64 others now at the Southern Nye County Friends of Animals, are alive. Vie Keller says, "When we discovered him, his leg was hanging by just a narrow thread. And it was full of maggots and if you held him, the maggots would fall on the floor."
His hair was so matted that his rescuers believe he chewed his leg to the bone. It had to be amputated. Vie Keller says, "He'd come hobbling up with that leg to greet you."
It is unbelievable to think that it was the same Yorkie who was living in deplorable conditions at a Pahrump home for years. In all, 68 dogs, most of them Yorkies and Silkys, were stacked through out the house in cat-size cages. They were living in their feces with matted hair, ear and eye infections, and only let out to breed.
Debbie Pemberton with Nye County Animal Control says, "We've seen neglect and cruelty cases before, but this rates pretty high on our scale."
The dogs' owner, 57-year-old Tana Nass, was cited for 68 counts of animal cruelty and was evicted from the home. Her two grandchildren were removed from her care.
It took 8 hours and a HazMat team to remove the dogs to their new home at the shelter. One of the board members there has gone home each night and knitted a sweater for each of the Yorkies. That's because when they were finally groomed, they were cold from losing all their hair.
The owner of the puppy mill, Tana Nass, faces a $1,000 fine, 48 hours of community service and whatever else the judge finds necessary. Nass also faces welfare and check fraud charges.