A local Daytona Beach dog rescue group is helping find homes for some of the more than 160 German shepherds found abused and neglected on a Georgia property last week.

But the number may be greater, said Eva Ziehl, a founder of the Daytona Beach German Shepherd Rescue, who was notified by Georgia rescue groups of the animal-neglect case.

"We heard that there was a big hoarding case on two different properties, a total of 500 German shepherds, 350 on one property and 150 on another," Ziehl said in an interview at her Ormond Beach home Sunday night.

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Atlanta Humane Society spokeswoman Christina Hill confirmed late Sunday that 167 German Shepherd dogs were rescued.

"We can’t really speak to the second site as we were tasked with managing the Candler County property," Hill said, when asked about the other dogs.

Ziehl said a stir of emotions overcame the 20 volunteers of the group when they learned that a very large group of neglected and abused German shepherds were seized.

"Bad, bad, neglected, abused, covered in their own ... " Ziehl could not finish her statement as she became emotionally overwhelmed.

On Thursday, the Atlanta Humane Society’s Animal Cruelty Unit responded to a neglect case involving approximately 165 German shepherds on a property in Metter, Georgia, said Hill, the agency's director of marketing and communications.

Humane society workers, along with the Candler County Sheriff's Office, discovered more than 150 dogs living in extremely neglectful conditions at the home, Hill said.

The owner of the property was arrested and is facing animal cruelty charges, Hill said.

The Atlanta Humane Society team was back at the scene Sunday and moved the animals most in need of medical attention to humane society centers in Alpharetta, Georgia, and West Midtown, Georgia, Hill said.

Hill said the Atlanta Humane Society is coordinating efforts with other rescue groups to provide critical care for the entire group of dogs.

Some of the Georgia German shepherd rescue groups reached out to the Daytona group, which got its first rescue late Sunday night — a 1-year-old German shepherd.

The rescued canine has a major double eye infection, possibly an injury to its right eye and needed to be taken to the veterinary as soon as possible, Ziehl said.

"Our rescue is based out of Daytona Beach for German shepherds, but we work with a lot of rural shelters and other rescues in Georgia," Ziehl said. "Once Georgia rescue got notified of what's going on, they started reaching out to everybody else."

The Georgia rescue groups are helping the Florida group with transportation of the dogs, Ziehl said.

"We wanted to help right away, but we were just shocked with the number of dogs," Ziehl said.

Other rescue groups like Sophie's Circle Dog Rescue of New Smyrna Beach and Granada Animal Hospital are also standing by to help, Ziehl said.

"We are a very small foster-home based rescue, but we are happy to hear that other rescues are (helping)," Ziehl said.

The plan is to get two dogs at a time and the group hopes to get 20 German shepherds.

Ziehl said they need foster homes for the dogs and need help, but volunteers are prepared to work with the dogs, she said.

"For us, right now, we need foster homes because we want to bring these dogs to a home," Ziehl said. "We need good foster homes, people who understand the breed, who have some type of experience with large dogs that are neglected and may not be ready to be introduced to other dogs right away."

Besides foster homes, the group will also need pet supplies to care for the dogs. For financial donations and information you can visit http://www.dbgsdrescue.org.

"I would definitely ask for dog shampoo and conditioners; that's probably going to be our biggest challenge because these dogs are coming from horrible, horrible conditions," Ziehl said.