HICKORY COUNTY, Mo. – The Humane Society of Missouri on Macklind Avenue in St Louis said the rescued dogs and puppies are showing their more playful side two days after they were rescued.

The puppies came from Cridder Creek Kennel in Hickory County. Laurie Lund, the owner, was operating without a license since January. Her license expired on January 31, 2021.

The Missouri Department of inspected Lund’s kennel multiple times between February and September. She failed each inspection and had several repeat violations. She also sold 13 puppies between April 3 and June 21 without a license.

The most re-occurring violations were long toenails on the animals, shelters that lack wind and rain breaks, outdoor portions of shelters covered in dirt and grime. She also had several other violations. In February, the Department of Agriculture found excessive accumulation of feces in enclosures. It also found three packages of expired products. In April, some shelters were found to not have access to shade,

In July, several pens had puddles of muddy water.

“When the dogs first got to us, they go through what can best be described as somewhat similar to a wellness exam that you would give your pet,” Humane Society of Missouri Mackland Avenue Adoption Center Director Anne Vincent said.  “We’re always looking for any kind of injuries or illness, but we’re doing their first round of vaccinations, de-worming. You see that there’s obviously a dirty coat, some debris in the ears, things that we do see from dogs who spend a lot of time from outside. That’s kind of what we’re really working on is clean up and making sure they’re bathed, groomed.”

Now, the puppies are getting observed regularly the first couple days at the shelter.

“With such a large number of animals that have come in, some are healthier than others,” Vincent said. “Some may take a little bit longer to recover.”

Hobby Breeder Ruth Mushynski says there are many ways you can make sure your future pet is taken care of at the breeder.

“Ensuring that you’re doing the proper testing, like genetic health testing and you know what you’re looking at,” Mushynski said. “Not just that you’re doing the process, but you know how to decode the process to pair the mom and dad. Then even taking that a step further if they’re going to keep going and doing testing like OFA, testing for hips and elbows or even cardiac and heart lining all of that up so that you’re able to stack the deck in those in the puppies favor so that they’re able to have like long healthy lives.”

Mushynski also said people can even use websites to vet their breeder.

The Humane Society hopes to have some of the dogs up for adoption starting next week, but it could take a couple of weeks.

“Its really humbling to be able to see a pet that comes in that starts off scared and comes around with such a big personality,” Vincent said. “When a dog starts playing with a toy for what really seems like the first time, it’s just really exciting to see and catch that personality coming out.”

The Humane Society is accepting monetary donations and physical items like blankets, comforters and toys. Those interested in donating can do so on its website. It thanks those who have already done so.

 “We were around $40,000 in monetary donations in 48 hours,” Vincent said. “[Wednesday] morning, our donations bin filled 30 times, if not more, so they were constantly going through the donations and putting them away in our storage area.”