SPRING GROVE – Scott Rood, a 40-year animal rescue specialist, received an urgent call from a Spring Grove breeder almost a week before police raided the breeder’s home and rescued 17 underfed and malnourished Great Danes.

The message was abrupt. The breeder, Patricia C. Messina, needed to unload nine Great Danes whose health were deteriorating because of severe digestive and diarrhea problems, Rood recalled.

Rood, who operates Great Dane Rescue Midwest in Woodstock, traveled to a veterinary clinic in Wonder Lake on Sept. 22 to retrieve the Great Danes from Messina, who was a recognizable figure in the breeding community.