Washoe County Regional Animal Services rescued dozens of dogs from a Sun Valley park earlier this month. All 37 that were taken to the Nevada Humane Society have found new, loving homes.

"We think somebody had an extraordinary amount of dogs, probably a hoarding situation, and we think at some point they needed to divest of these dogs," said Heidi Mittelstaedt a Field Supervisor with Regional Animal Services. "And instead of calling our agency or the SPCA or the Humane Society, or posting them for sale online, they dumped them."

Now, all 37 dogs that ended up at the Nevada Humane Society have found new, loving homes.

Pewter has been with the Morlan family for a little more than a week now. They found out about his situation when the shelter called about a possible adoption.

"I don't know how people can do something like that, it's just so sad," said Lisa Morlan. "It makes me want to tear up and cry because I would never get rid of him. He's calm, he's playful, he loves to cuddle and snuggle and that's all that he wants to do."

Pewter fills a void left by Percy, a beloved companion that recently passed away. He's already fast friends with the Morlan's dog Abby.

"When I look at Pewter, I see a lot of Percy," said Wade Morlan. "It's kind of strange because I think we filled out 30 applications here and didn't think we were going to find anything. But I think Percy, I think he directed it for us, because just the last five days, Pewter will do things that only Percy would have done."

Making these kinds of matches is what the Humane Society does best, and the team there is always glad to see these pets find forever homes.

"Especially the ones that come from really neglectful backgrounds and you know they've never experienced a safe, loving home, and you get to give that to them for the first time," said Nicole Theodoulou with the Nevada Humane Society. "It's just the most amazing feeling."

There are programs in place so this kind of situation never has to happen.

"First of all, you can call us," Mittelstaedt said. "And we have had people call us when their health or finances have changed, and they say hey we need help. If you're proactive, we're going to work with you. We have low-cost spay and neuter services, vaccines, and the SPCA and the Nevada Humane Society have the same. If you want to bring them in, we will accept them, you just have to be forthright."

The rescued dogs have come a long way in just a few short weeks.

"They we undersocialized, so they didn't come to people," Mittelstaedt said. "They weren't used to having leashes or restraints so they panicked and started biting and fighting, and we don't even know if we caught them all, we just know we caught 38 in Sun Valley and five more in another area. There's predators out there, there's cars, exposure tot he elements, so many things that could have happened, and so many better choices than us having to go out there and hand trap them."

Regional Animal Services continues to investigate the case.

Click here for more info onWashoe County Regional Animal Services.

Click here for more on the Nevada Humane Society.