People are inundating Pet Refuge in Mishawaka, where 35 dogs arrived Thursday night, with phone calls and donations. Meanwhile, those dogs are in foster care after receiving medical treatment Thursday.

"What people have to understand is we take the best applications for the dogs, not the first applications,” said Jami VandenBossche, a volunteer with Pet Refuge.

At Camp K9 in Mishawaka, four of the dogs that will be up for adoption are staying in foster care for the next two weeks. They lounge on couches and run free—a sharp departure from life in a cage.

"They've gone from being in an awful environment to coming here, so it's a rags to riches story,” said Linda Candler of Camp K9.

Roughly 240 dogs were taken by state police from a farm in Mauckport earlier in the week. There, many dogs were covered in feces and parasites; authorities say one dog was found dead.

On Thursday, volunteers from the Humane Society of the United States helped take the dogs and drive them to shelters throughout the state. The final stop was Pet Refuge in Mishawaka.

A giant white truck backed in to the parking lot around 5 p.m. Thursday.
35 puppies traveled in comfort after living in squalor.

Many people gathered at Pet Refuge and waited for the truck. After volunteers helped the dogs get medical attention on Thursday, the dogs headed to foster homes.

Diann Wellman cried on Thursday when the dogs arrived. She’ll provide a foster home for a dog over the next two weeks.

"There's nothing more rewarding in my opinion," said Wellman on Friday from her backyard.

The truck left New Albany around 6 a.m. Thursday and dropped off dogs in Indianapolis and Calumet before ending in Mishawaka.

“In just a really short amount of time you see them come around, they start to wag their tail when you come by it's really a dramatic difference just in a short period of time," said Diann Wellman, a volunteer with the Humane Society of the United States.

All things considered, the dogs were found in excellent shape, Wellman said.

At Pet Refuge, applications continue to arrive. They are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and volunteers say it’s not too late to submit an application to adopt.