A superior court judge Thursday night ordered the sale of hundreds of dogs found in deplorable conditions at a Jackson County breeding facility, and that the animals not be returned to their owners.

Judge David Motes, of the Piedmont circuit, ruled following a 6 1/2-hour hearing on dogs seized from the L&D Farm and Kennel in Nicholson. Motes said the dogs "were the objects of cruelty," and that their owners "caused unjustified suffering."

Elissa Eubanks/AJC (ENLARGE)

A two-week-old Chihuahua pup in the hands of a volunteer is being housed in a rescue facility with about 35 other dogs in Cobb Count. When dog rescuers pulled up to the rural Jackson County farm in February, they found hundreds of dogs jammed into cages and pens.

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Citing testimony of inadequate food, shelter, sanitary living conditions and veterinary care as his reasons for the ordered sale, Motes said, "I'm not going to give any of the dogs back to the Hughes [family] right now."

The judge's decision prompted applause from many of the 50 spectators in the courtroom. His order cites 274 dogs, but officials counted mothers with litters as one dog apiece when they seized the animals, so in actuality more than 300 canines are affected.

Acting on a tip from a former kennel worker, state and county officials went to the farm on Feb. 21 and discovered the conditions there.

Marie Hughes, her husband, Ronnie Hughes, and daughters Jennifer Hughes and Brandy Stone have each been charged with five counts of felony animal cruelty and 55 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

State and county officials, as well as four veterinarians, testified at Thursday's court hearing about the horrible conditions of the dogs and the squalor of their surroundings. All of the animals were found covered in urine and feces. One vet, Gloria Andrews, testified that two Papillons had almost no hair. "They were just crusty," she said.

Hughes family members, free on bond, were in the courtroom. Their attorney, Gina Grady, said no decision had been made whether to appeal Mote's ruling.

Asked if she planned to appeal, Marie Hughes nodded yes. She also is appealing the suspension of her breeders and dealers licenses by the state.

Jackson County Attorney Jane Range said the various rescue groups caring for the dogs have incurred about $200,000 in veterinary and boarding costs to date. She said the county now will have to figure out a way to sell the dogs and reimburse the rescue organizations. If any money is left over, it will go to the Hughes family.

Four Hughes family pets were not ordered sold, but the judge declined to return them, saying that was an administrative matter.

Another attorney for the Hughes family has said they also would appeal a state Department of Agriculture March 20 administrative order in the case finding that the kennel had 1,450 violations when it was inspected Feb. 21, including allowing dogs to starve to death in their pens. That inspection triggered the raid a week later to remove the animals.

The order determined the Hugheses violated the Georgia Animal Protection Act and animal cruelty laws in the treatment of the dogs. The department suspended Marie Hughes' licenses for the breeding facility and sales at the nearby Pendergrass flea market and levied a $400,000 fine against her.

Hughes, first licensed by the state in 2001, breeds mostly small, highly adoptable dogs such as poodles, Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Pekingeses and Cavalier King Charles spaniels.

The dogs have been recuperating with foster families and in the shelters of rescue groups, most of them in metro Atlanta. The animal rescue groups were asked to help because Jackson has no animal shelter and the state has no facilities to house dogs that must be impounded for their own safety.

Representatives of rescue groups said puppies taken from the farm were sick, and most of the adult dogs also had problems, ranging from skin infections and bad teeth to tumors and broken bones.