60+ Starving Dogs Found Chained in West Ga. Woods (ICYMI)

ARAGON, GA — About 60-70 dogs — some of them injured, all of them malnourished — were found chained up in the woods behind a house in the west Georgia town of Aragon on Monday.

"I don't know how anybody could treat an animal this way, or how they could think this is OK ...," Polk County Police Chief Kenny Dodd said in a video posted to the department's Facebook page. "We appreciate all your prayers for these dogs because this is pitiful. It breaks your heart."

The video shows dozens of dogs, which Dodd said were all without food or water. A few were in tiny kennels, but most were chained to trees with no food, water or shelter. More spots were visible where other dogs had clearly been chained up but were no longer present.

In the video, many of the dogs, which appeared to be bulldogs and mixed-breeds, had visible ribs and a handful were clearly injured. They were all friendly and non-aggressive, Dodd said.

"I wanted the public to see what shape these dogs were in and how they're being treated," Dodd said. "Hopefully, this will also help in court when we prosecute."

Aragon is just north of Rockmart and about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Tuesday afternoon, police and animal rescue groups were on the scene, working to relocate the animals. Police also were monitoring reports of missing or stolen dogs to see if any of the animals had ended up at the residence, on Cash Town Road.

Officers had stayed with the animals overnight. Dodd said his department didn't have the resources to relocate them immediately on Monday and didn't want someone to come take them in the night if officers had left.

Meanwhile, the story of the abused dogs was spreading far and wide. The Polk County Police video on Facebook had been viewed more than 1.3 million times as of Tuesday afternoon. The post had been shared more than 30,000 times.

Anyone interested in donating food, money or other items to help the dogs is asked to contact Polk County Animal Control at 770-749-8908.

SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.

Photo courtesy Polk County Police Department Facebook page