Watch 81 Rescue Dogs Saved in Pouring Rain From Life of Abuse—'Freedom'

The largest no-kill rescue center in the U.S. welcomed home 81 more dogs after saving them from breeders that no longer saw a need for them.

The dogs were brought to Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue on what is referred to as a "freedom ride," and the animals will finally get the love and attention they deserve. A large, converted Greyhound bus lined with dog crates delivered the rescues to Big Dog Ranch Rescue in the pouring rain after a 30-hour drive.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue made the trip to Minnesota and South Dakota to rescue dogs and puppies. Sixty-two dogs were rescued from a puppy mill breeder in Edgerton, Minnesota, who was retiring and shutting down the facility. Another 10 dogs were rescued in Luverne, Minnesota. The rest of the dogs were saved from a reservation in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that was abandoned.

The dogs were put under a two-week quarantine after arriving at the Florida facility on October 11. They will meet with the medical staff and undergo in-depth examinations, spaying and neutering, microchipping, dental checkups and vaccinations. In about two weeks, they will be ready for adoption or fostering.

The employees and volunteers had to carry the dogs off the bus because many did not even know how to walk. Now, it's a slow process getting them used to walking on a leash and to human touch, as well as letting them know they will not be hurt.

"It is so fulfilling to watch them day by day blossom," Big Dog Ranch Rescue's CEO and founder, Lauree Simmons, told Newsweek. "It's amazing how resilient they are, for the amount of suffering they experienced, to be able to bounce back."

She said that every single day the dogs are coming out of their shell more and more. They are gaining confidence and learning to trust again.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue, which has a 33-acre campus, focuses on rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing animals. Its team goes to wherever there is a need: disaster situations, hurricanes, floods or breeders closing. Since opening in 2008, it has saved over 59,000 dogs. The rescue center recently expanded to Alabama, with plans to raise enough money to open a facility in Texas.

In a TikTok video of the latest rescue, users flooded the comments section with praise for the rescue center's team.

"Thank you, all of you are angels!! Thank you for saving these babies," wrote one, @sherrgoh. Another, @ladymartyr38, said, "God bless you all for having a good heart."

Dog Breeding, Shelters by the Numbers

The puppy mill breeders who once owned these dogs called Big Dog Ranch Rescue to have them picked up. In most cases, these dogs would have been euthanized.

About 10,000 puppy mills are located in the U.S., and less than 3,000 are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Because some puppy mills have received bad press in the past for their neglect and abuse of dogs, they are reaching out more frequently to shelters to see if they can take dogs they no longer need, Simmons said. She hopes this trend continues.

Each year, 6.3 million pets are surrendered to U.S. shelters, which comes to an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 this past January, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Petwatch's Shelter Watch Report found.

Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs and behavior rehabilitation.

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