Kennel Trash

Read Kelley Benham's story: It got dark. Out came flashlights. They still hadn't gathered all the dogs. They didn't know what to do with them all, and they didn't know how many they would have to kill.

The property reached down into the woods, where thick weeds made it hard to walk. The ground was scattered with chewed-up deer bones – spines and splintered femurs. They kept backing into dogs. So many eyes in the dark.

They carried bags of dog food and syringes of something called Fatal-Plus.

The officers and investigators worked deep into the night, all the next morning and into the afternoon. They examined every dog. They numbered each one with a plastic collar and a metal tag.

They counted 139.