Some of the dogs rescued from a rural western Iowa residence late last month are now available for adoption. Authorities said the 88 dogs, mostly Cocker Spaniels, were living in filthy conditions in cages with their coats matted in dried feces.

The dogs have since been groomed and cared for at five animal shelters around the state. The dog’s health issues have included fleas, tooth decay and skin, ear and bladder infections.

The Siouxland Human Society in Sioux City received 14 of the dogs and director Jerry Domincak says a few of them now have new homes.

“We did have some people who were on a call list, so those people were called and five (dogs) have been adopted,” Domincak said. “Now we’re hoping just the general public comes in and we get the remaining nine adopted.”

The 88 dogs were taken from a property near Kiron in Sac County. Mary Broderson, who owned the dogs, gave up ownership last Friday and was ordered to pay $25,000 to cover the shelters’ costs of caring for the animals. She also faces 93 counts of animal neglect.

The Cedar Valley Humane Society in Cedar Rapids received 15 of the dogs. Spokeswoman Jan Clarke said the community has offered a lot of support. “The response has been overwhelming,” Clarke said. “We’ve had a lot of people step up and bring us supplies and make monetary donations.”

One of the pregnant dogs taken to the Cedar Rapids shelter delivered six puppies this past Sunday. Clarke said most of the dogs are getting closer to being ready for adoption, but her shelter isn’t accepting applications for the animals just yet.

“They seem surprisingly social for what they’ve been through,” Clarke said of the dogs. “But, we’re guessing after they’ve been poked and prodded – just like anybody, any person – they need a little time to recover from that.” The Boone Area Humane Society has been caring for 21 of the rescued dogs and executive director Heidi Drees-White said many of them will be going to new homes soon.

“We do have applications in on some of them. We’re reading the applications carefully to make sure that each home is a good fit for the animal,” Drees-White said. “Some of these dogs are more socialized than others, so some are better suited for any type of home while others really need more of a quiet home with a limited number of people interacting right away.”

One of the dogs taken to the Boone shelter recently gave birth to three pups. The director of the Animal Rescue League of Carroll said they have six of the Sac County dogs. The Carroll facility is now accepting applications for their eventual adoption.