HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Nickerson couple is free on bond this morning after being arrested Thursday on 10 counts each of animal cruelty.

Officers worked an animal welfare case last week and found a large number of new puppies in unsanitary living conditions and saw signs of neglect.

Sixty-two-year-old Darrell J. Francis and 55-year-old Delores Eileen Jenkins Francis were both booked into the Reno County Correctional Facility on the 10 counts.

You may recall that a deputy responded to a home in Nickerson and discovered horrible living conditions and obvious animal abuse for the puppies. They were transported to a vet in Lyons and later shipped by volunteers to Pawsitive Tails Rescue in Kansas City. That was on Sept. 14.

The deputy, Chris Shields, adopted one puppy and named it “Ammo.”

Two adult dogs were also neglected and had little food, water, and shelter.