PARKERSBURG, West Virginia (WTAP/Gray News) – Nearly 150 dogs were rescued from a home in West Virginia.

The Humane Society of Parkersburg said 146 dogs were rescued from one location as of Wednesday afternoon.

Samantha Tannous, the shelter’s director, said a neighbor of the home informed her that there were at least 10 chihuahuas inside the home.

“Our aid workers went there, and just by the appearance and the feces there, we knew there were probably more than 10,” Tannous said. “We weren’t expecting 146.”

The humane society said the number of dogs found in the home was overwhelming.

“Things have gotten out of hand,” general manager Gary McIntyre said. “The dogs, unfortunately, were not spayed or neutered, and because of that, they just kept having litters of dogs, and then each new litter started having additional litters.”

Volunteer Dreama Alderman said she has never seen a situation like this in her time working for the organization.

“I’ve been volunteering for years, for so many years, and they’ve had cases like this, but none like this,” Alderman said. “It’s the biggest.”

McIntyre said he is grateful for the community’s support with donations and help at the shelter.

“I have to say the community has been extremely supportive of everything we’ve done,” McIntire said. “Yesterday we sent out a message quite quickly that we needed metal crates. We knew that with the number of dogs increasing, it seemed like every 30 minutes or so the number was getting higher and higher, because initially we thought we were talking about 30 dogs.

Parkersburg police have been notified of the situation.

Humane society staff are currently caring for dogs newly arrived at the shelter.

“They are all here at the shelter right now, while some are in foster homes,” Tannous said. “Right now we’re just cleaning them, getting them vaccinated and cutting their nails. This is what we work with.

Some items are still needed to ease the influx of dogs, staff said. For more information about the Humane Society of Parkersburg and to help support their efforts, visit their website.

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