Jennifer Petkus, owner and founder of the animal shelter where more than 300 dogs were seized, was charged with 11 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges in Richland County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

According to a criminal complaint, Dr. Lisa Kerwin-Lucchi, a veterinarian with the Dane County Humane Society, used a hidden camera and temperature probe to record conditions at Thyme and Sage Ranch in rural Cazenovia in March. At that time, she found dogs without access to food and unfrozen water, dogs with severely matted fur and inadequate bedding for unheated buildings, in addition to other injuries and poor conditions.

On Tuesday, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant for Thyme and Sage Ranch, 28096 and 28098 Highway CC in Cazenovia, and animal protection representatives from across the country converged to rescue the dogs and farm animals. More than 100 dogs were impounded Tuesday, along with eight horses and a goat, but more than 300 dogs total are expected to be taken. At least six dog carcasses were discovered and a ram needed to be euthanized.

"Even I didn’t know the extent of what was up there until I was physically at the property (Tuesday)," Kerwin-Lucchi said.

According to court records, Petkus is charged with one count of improper shelter to animals and 10 counts of intentionally mistreating animals — all misdemeanors. In addition, she faces five counts of unlawful deposit of animals carcasses, a civil forfeiture.

If convicted she faces up to a $10,000 fine or nine months in jail for each misdemeanor. Civic forfeitures carry a penalty of between $200 and $5,000. She is scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. on May 29.

Court records also show that Thyme and Sage, which has a contract with Richland County to serve as a shelter for lost and found animals, had already transferred 68 dogs and 10 cats to the Dane County Humane Society between Feb. 1 and March 27.

Kerwin-Lucchi, who originally contacted the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals about Thyme and Sage, started collecting the criminal evidence as early as February to obtain a search warrant and file charges "to make sure (Petkus) can’t do this again."

She said it’s hard to categorize Petkus and determine what led to the conditions of her shelter because "she’s not a typical hoarder." Many of the seized dogs look to be "retired breeders from puppy mills," and the fact that she was adopting out large number of young puppies raised the suspicion she may also have been breeding, Kerwin-Lucchi said.

Robin John, of Deerfield, said she, her mom and sister, each bought a dog from Petkus in March.

The dog John adopted, a cocker spaniel she named Lady, did have open wounds, a skin infection and was underweight. However John said the conditions "weren’t as bad as they were made out to be today. But, it wasn’t the best of the best."

Kerwin-Lucchi said that’s partly because there were only a few buildings Petkus showed to the public.

"We knew she had dogs elsewhere on the property, we just didn’t have access" until Tuesday.