Rewey: 14 miniature poodles are now in quarantine at the Iowa County Humane Society.

The dogs were seized on Monday. They are in quarantine while they wait for a vet to check them out.

The dogs were taken from a house in the Village of Rewey in western Iowa County.

Sheriff's officials were called when a neighbor spotted two dead rabbits. "With the 14 dogs, the rabbits and the cats they felt it was an excessive amount of animals in the house and there were health issues associated with all those animals in the house," says Sheriff Steven Michek.

"Based on what everyone was seeing it wasn't a situation that was healthy for the animals or the people who were living there," says Cheri Phillmore, Humane Society Executive Dir.

"It's quite possible some of the animals haven't been out of the residence for a couple of years," says Michek.

"Very dirty, matted, obviously had never been outside so they were living in filth. There basically was a path through the house that you could walk. Everything else was stuff-piled up all over, feces, urine," says Phillmore.

"The people that entered the residence had protective clothing on to protect themselves from any of the fecal matter or anything like that in the residence. It was quite filthy," says Michek.

Charges for animal neglect are possible, but not likely.

"This is more a case of people who are just not intentionally being cruel, just not being able to care for the animals they have or even care for themselves very well," says Phillmore.

"I'm sure that Iowa County Social Services will also get involved to lend any assistance they can," says Michek.