A judge in Pottawattamie County issued a ruling Thursday on the disposition of nearly two-dozen dogs seized from a home in Neola. According to the Daily NonPareil, Fourth District Court Judge James Heckerman ruled that 17 shih tzus and one cavalier King Charles spaniel will not be given back to Troy C. Dargin, or his mother, Cathy Eckmann, and her husband, Dennis, whose home the dogs were confiscated from on March 13th, by Pottawattamie County Animal Control. Another dog will be returned to its owner in Kansas City, Mo.

Two of the owners said health issues in the family resulted in the dogs not being cared for after March 1st.  County Animal Control Director Corbin Ranslem said  the dogs were found in cages in a garage at the Eckmann residence. Some of the small enclosers held two and three animals. Most of the food and water dishes in the kennels were empty at the time of the seizure. A majority of the animals were in “unkept condition,” one had a severe skin condition, another a heart murmur, four had umbilical hernias and five suffered from dental disease. Eight of the dogs were deemed to be in normal physical condition.