PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP — More than 50 pit bulls, at least four of which were dead, were found on a Route 46 farm Friday after Ashtabula County Humane Society agents were tipped off on the situation.

Barb Judson, who owns the property located at 2578 Route 46, has been running a pit bull rescue service for about six years. It started out small and has now reached the point where Judson is in over her head, said Donna, an ACHS agent who asked to keep here last name anonymous.

When ACHS agents received the call about the dogs, the caller stated the dogs were being beaten and some were dead, Donna said. ACHS agents searched the property and found about 29 pit bulls in a barn, several more were chained up in the woods and about 10 puppies were in pens in the yard.

Several of the dogs appeared to be in very poor health, Donna said.

“One has no hair, one has a huge rip in its neck, one has scarring on its leg,” she said.

ACHS agents also found four bags of dog remains under a tree pile in the woods, Donna said.

Ashtabula County Dog Warden Barry Northrup said one of the dogs has a horrible case of mange and four to six of them are malnourished. The dead dogs were found wrapped in plastic and stuffed in dog food bags, he said.

“The thing we don’t know is how many more (dead dogs) there are and where they are buried,” Northrup said. “The owner says the dogs died of natural causes.”

Judson said she adopts the dogs out for a fee of $150 which includes spaying or neutering costs.

“I have nothing to hide,” she said. “They’ve seen my animals. They’re all healthy. There’s just too many of them.”

Four of the dogs were removed from the property and taken into veterinary care by Dr. Becky Salinger of Austinburg Veterinary Clinic. Six of the other dogs are also in need of veterinary care, four of which need care within 48 hours, Donna said.

Judson said potential adopters of the dogs have to fill out an extensive application. She started the rescue business because she loves the breed, she said.

“I just have too big of a heart,” Judson said.

Donna said the puppies recently had their ears clipped, which generally indicates they are being raised for fighting.

“They do that for fighting so there’s not much to bite,” she said. “When you come to places like this, it’s a no win situation.”

Donna said if Judson wasn’t raising the dogs for fighting, that’s where they are going.

“That’s what it’s all about in Ashtabula County,” she said. “It’s big business, big money.”

ACHS agents could not seize the dogs Friday without Judson surrendering them, Donna said.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to take every dog here and get it into foster care,” she said. “Those dogs in the woods don’t have a chance at a great life. There are at least five in the back that need to be euthanized.”

Donna said the case will be turned over to the Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday for possible charges of animal cruelty for the dead dogs and the dogs that are ill.

“In the meantime, the healthy dogs will have to stay here and we will be back for periodic checks,” she said.

After assessing the situation, Sheriff William Johnson said as far as he can tell, there is no indication the dogs are being bred for fighting.

“You can walk up to any one of them and pet them,” he said. “There’s just too many.”

Johnson said he did not see any violations right away; however, there are dogs that need to be buried.

“I don’t see anything that would be a violation,” he said. “They just have too many dogs. She got overwhelmed with people bringing dogs here. By no stretch of the imagination is this an illegal fighting operation.”

Johnson said he will discuss the situation with Ashtabula County Prosecutor Tom Sartini and the number of dogs on the property will need to be reduced. Johnson said he would like to see no more than 10 dogs on the property, but it will be up to Sartini to decide.

“He may say 15, but 15 is still a far cry from 50,” he said.

Johnson also said he would like to see better runs for the animals and a more social environment where they can get out and associate with people.

“They’re not mean,” he said. “They’re friendly dogs.”

ACHS agents will be doing weekly checks on the dogs and the dogs that are under veterinary care are not permitted to be moved from the property, Donna said.

“That’s all we can do for now,” she said.