A Pinetops woman is bringing more than 30 Dachshund dogs from Washington County to her rescue shelter in hopes of providing them with a good home in the future.

Ann Robinson, who owns and operates Sand Hill Beagles Rescue on U.S. 258 between Tarboro and Pinetops, found out about the dogs from their former owners' daughter in Plymouth, who was worried about the county removing between 35-40 Dachshunds from her parents' property if they were not taken elsewhere.

Robinson, 57, described the dogs as being held in "rabbit cages," with many of the spaces suspended in air, with the dogs stepping on chicken wire. She also said several of the spaces the dogs were being kept had high-wattage light bulbs inside with limited ventilation.

Some of the dogs suffered burn marks from the bulbs with the spaces too cramped for the grown dogs' elongated bodies to stretch out, Robinson said.

She picked up the puppies from the Plymouth residence Tuesday with help from her son Chris Andrews. She said they would go back to retrieve the rest of the dogs today.

As soon as she gets all of them, Robinson said she will provide them with flea, tick and lice removal medication, as well as treatment for heart worms.

Since her nonprofit organization just handles 10-20 dogs at a time, Robinson said she will enlist the help of foster homes for the Dachshunds to recuperate before being made available for adoption.

Once they are ready, she said the adoption fees will likely run from $200 to $300, depending on what vaccinations and internal treatments each dog will require.

To adopt a puppy, Robinson said adopters would have to sign a contract agreeing to spay or neuter them when they are old enough, or else the dogs would be reclaimed.

She said she would likely make "very little profit" off the adoption of each dog, because of the expense associated with treatments and vaccinations.

More information about Sand Hills Beagle Rescue is at www.sandhillbeagles.com. Robinson said the Dachshunds would also be available for adoption through PetFinder.com.