A few months ago, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals got involved in an an animal cruelty case in Southern Nevada.

"The conditions down there were really bad," said Nicole Theodoulou with the Nevada Humane Society. "There were almost 300 dogs involved in this case, 100 of them had to be euthanized due to the severity of the condition they were in."

The Nevada Humane Society went down to help.

"We were fortunate to send one of our best staffers down to help with two ten-day stints," said Greg Hall, CEO of the Nevada Humane Society. "We have a great connection with the ASPCA, we are partners with them, so we appreciate that they reached out to us. "We're a regional leader in the area and everyone knows we help, along with other shelters as well, but they reached out to us and we answered the bell."

Most of the rescued dogs were flown to an ASPCA recovery center in Ohio. But more than a dozen puppies found their way to the Nevada Humane Society. 

Three were available today and the Humane Society says they had a line out the door.

Six more will be available next Tuesday, November 22 and the last five will be available on November 29 as some of the dogs need to be in foster care longer. 

"These are Caucasian Shepherds, which is a very large working dog breed," Theodoulou said. "I'm holding one that's only 10 weeks old and she's already more than 25 pounds! But she's so sweet and adorable, and to be as resilient as these guys are, going through what they went through. We are so grateful these guys were able to be rehabilitated and rescued and that we can help them on their way to finding a happy home."

The puppies have been in foster care, and are now thriving.

The Humane Society is not yet sure if the mother will be available for adoption, but she is improving and they are hopeful.

"These guys have been wonderful," said Amanda Adams, who has been fostering animals for the shelter for more than five years now. "It's been a very short foster, just over a week. They were aged out and ready to get spayed but they needed to be checked for behavior and health issues. I was a little fearful just because of where they came from, and their circumstances - not being around a lot of humans, not a lot of interaction, they'd never lived in a home before. But honestly, with these guys, it took about an hour to realize they were going to be fine and they are great puppies."

Great puppies that will turn into great big dogs, so potential new families should look in the characteristics of the breed.

"Definitely do that research on the breed, they're huge, shedding will be an issue, and they need a lot of space," Adams said. "But the good thing is they did great in the house. They learned the doggie door in a matter of five minutes and we're working on potty training, but they're only ten weeks, so that's not totally locked in yet. They definitely need a big yard with a high fence because they will get huge, and also just be careful of strangers coming over because that is a breed characteristic, they are very protective of their home."

This rescue story is the focus of NHS's Giving Tuesday campaign this year.

"We're highlighting the story of these sweet puppies and we just hope everybody visits our website to learn about the support we provided for these guys and their transport and how much of that work we do all day, every day," Theodoulou said. "We really need the public support by way of donations and volunteers. And now, through Giving Tuesday on November 29, we actually have a matching donor who is a longtime volunteer here. So for every dollar donated, this volunteer will double that so your donation goes twice as far."

You can make Giving Tuesday donations and learn more about the rescue story at: https://donate.nevadahumanesociety.org/campaign/giving-tuesday-2022/c445231

All the puppies in this litter are now available for adoption.