Police are investigating the disappearance of more than a dozen dogs in a saga with complicated plot twists involving the SPCA, an animal rescue charity and a Northland breeder.

Someone took up to 31 Cavalier King Charles and cavoodle dogs and puppies from a Mangapai property on 6 September for animal welfare reasons.

Rescue charity HUHA travelled up the North Island and took possession of the dogs in a clandestine handover. HUHA alleges a number of them have major genetic issues from inbreeding and it contacted the owners, police and the SPCA, offering to treat the animals.

In a social media statement, the dog owner's family said the animals were stolen while they were in Auckland getting cancer treatment, allegedly by several people in a convoy of utes.

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They took the dogs back from HUHA - but subsequently signed eight over to the charity's care.

Checkpoint has reached out to the property owners for comment.

HUHA chief executive Carolyn Press McKenzie told Checkpoint when they first spoke to the people who took the dogs, they sounded distressed.

"They also sent through photos of the conditions the dogs had come in and the condition the dogs were in as well, so we could see there was a situation and we insisted that they call the SPCA," she said.

"They didn't like that idea; they had their own reasons we just couldn't talk them into that. Then we suggested they call other charities up in Northland and they did try, but no one was in the position to take 31 dogs."

She said because HUHA is a large animal welfare agency and they cover the whole of New Zealand, by intervening they knew they would be kept together.

"We could talk to the SPCA, the police and the owner and unpack that, knowing that the animals would stay together. I think if we hadn't taken them, these people would panic and then just [have] given them out to people."

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he said at the time they had agreed to take them, they knew the animals had been taken from the property.

"They said they've taken them, and they said they've taken them for welfare issues I mean, if someone says welfare issues, we go, well hang on a minute, let's see what's going on here and unpack it," she said.

"We weren't trying to hide anything, we were very transparent with the police and with the SPCA and with the owners, but we also needed to advocate for the animals."

The condition of the dogs was very unkept when she saw them, she said.

"They hadn't been groomed in a long time, they were kind of filthy and smelly, urine and poo on them, they had fleas, they had ear mites and then we also had situations with dogs that had bigger problems, dry eye with quite revolting eyes," she said.

"There were undershot jaws, and patella problems as well, so some of the dogs did need some surgery."

She said some of the serious health problems the dogs were facing were a result of inbreeding and she was not sure who took them from the owners.

"When people do things like this, we don't actually ask a lot of questions. We don't want to spook them, but the person I can say who I did speak to was very distressed and they had stumbled across this scenario," she said.

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"They were going home for another reason. The family went home, they found the dogs in the basement, they panicked and then they pulled in a couple of friends to help them pull them out. There was no thought that this was premeditated," she said.

She said she flew from Wellington to Auckland and drove a vehicle to a collection point.

"I jumped on a plane, hired a cargo van and met a person who was apparently just someone else sent out, so it wasn't someone who's associated with packing them. But obviously, they were assisting and getting them to us," she said.

The first conversation she had with the people that took the dogs was getting them to the SPCA, she also spoke to them a second time about taking the dogs to another charity.

"The third conversation was alright, then we'll come and then we went from there," she said.

She said at the pickup point, she could not identify the person dropping off the dogs.

"It was dark, and I just wasn't paying attention. We had 31 dogs in an amazing state of disrepair in front of us, so it was about getting the dogs loaded and heading them back so they could get veterinary care," she said.

"I drove them through the night, fed them, obviously watered them, they travelled beautifully," she said.

She then called the owners, she said.

"Hey, I'm from HUHA, we have your dogs, they are safe and okay. There are concerns around the welfare. I will be talking with what I had already called the SPCA and the police. We're going to unpack this and then we'll work out what happens next," she said she told them.

They owners turned up the next day, she said, wanting the dogs back. HUHA then gave the dogs back after speaking with the SPCA and police.

"There was nothing that the police could do to help us, no legal powers and the SPCA said the easiest thing for them would be for the dogs to go back and then they could go in and grab them at that point," she said.

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She said when the owners came to pick the dogs up, HUHA explained to them about the condition they were in.

"They seemed very unaware of how bad they were, so we offered to do surgeries for them, and we offered to do surgeries to help with the eyes and we told them we'd help them," she said.

"They're an older couple and we thought maybe this just got too much of them and spiralled out of control. We were trying to offer them support, they said no."

She said the owners would not hand them over to anyone else.

"We did let everybody know that we had them so I wouldn't do it differently as animals need to come into our care and then everyone take a breath and then look at what's happening and move forward. I'm fine with that and the police did talk to me," she said.

"What we do? I mean, we protect animals. So no, we don't steal animals and no, we don't condone people stealing animals."

"Yes, it would have been better if they've done it the right way around through the SPCA. But at the end of the day, those babies were out there with no one to vouch for them, and we needed to step in."

Police and the SPCA say they can not comment while an investigation takes place.

This story was originally published by RNZ