DAVIE, Fla. ā Dozens of puppies that were saved from deplorable conditions are healthy and ready to find their forever homes.
The loving pups have come a long way, from being caged in a small trailer home to preparing for a life with a new, loving family.
āTheyāre pretty sociable with people and other dogs, so weāre really happy to see how resilient they are,ā said Broward County Animal Care Director Emily Wood.
More than two dozen dogs were discovered in a Davie trailer back on Sept. 13 when law enforcement raided the home of Sean Brodnax and Danielle Palladino.
Officers were looking for drugs and evidence of other crimes when they stumbled upon what they called an illegal puppy mill where Brodnax and Palladino were allegedly breeding pitbull French bulldog mixes without proper facilities or licenses.
In total, 26 dogs were removed from the property and brought to Broward County Animal Care, but it wasnāt until the day before Thanksgiving that a judge ordered that Brodnax and Palladino would officially lose custody of them.
āWe were most struck by how congenitally deformed most of these animals were,ā said Wood.
She explained that the dogs had a lot of issues, from breathing problems to trouble walking because of how inbred they were.
Thatās something Brodnax apparently admitted to doing intentionally in jailhouse phone calls ā seemingly to create dogs that look muscular in the front, without much thought given to how it would affect their mobility or health in the long run.
āIn South Florida, having difficulty walking and breathing in the heat, in the humidity, means that these dogs, even though theyāre very young, move as if theyāre much older than they are,ā said Wood.
Not all of the dogs are up for adoption. There are still custody questions about three of them, but the other 23 have been cleared to go to loving homes.
Many are already spoken for, but there are a few puppies still available.
And, of course, even if you donāt want or canāt get one of the Davie rescues, there are plenty of other pets looking for homes this holiday season.