A pug breeder in Taumarunui is under investigation over animal welfare concerns.
Police were alerted to the breeder after an animal activist broke in and took 25 dogs from the property.
The pugs were given to animal welfare group HUHA, but police have now told them to return the dogs.
This footage, given to Newshub by a person who admits stealing 25 pugs, shows them living in crates.
"There was wood rotting away with the amount of faeces on it… cages were tiny… ripped wire… just absolutely terrified dogs packed into tiny crate-style cages like battery hens," they say.
The person who took the puppies wants to remain anonymous, but spoke to Newshub because they're concerned about how the pugs were being treated.
"I opened the cages and picked up the dogs, and put them in my car basically."
They drove the pugs to a nearby town and handed them over to animal shelter HUHA.
The dogs are owned by Taumarunui breeder Sally Chitty - who HUHA alleges is running a "puppy farm". It claims she has sold 61 litters in the past three years.
"There's more than 100 dogs, but there were also pigs and cats breeding on the property as well," HUHA founder Carolyn Press-McKenzie says.
Among the 25 dogs taken from the property were a litter of puppies.
HUHA says the pugs arrived skinny with wounds, fleas, long nails and dental disease.
"That takes a little while to develop so some of these dogs had been suffering months and years with these conditions," veterinarian Joanne Lonergan says.
HUHA says Chitty shouldn't be breeding dogs like this.
"Any reputable breeder would be breeding from dogs that don't have this severe degree of the syndrome," Lonergan says.
But because the dogs were stolen rather than officially seized by the SPCA - police have ordered HUHA to return the dogs to the breeder.
"We're digging our heels in and we're not intending to do that… we want to know why theft trumps welfare," Press-McKenzie says.
The owner of the pugs declined Newshub's request for an interview, saying her lawyer and the police told her not to talk about it. Police confirmed an investigation is underway and that they can't talk either until it's finished.
The Ruapehu District council says it's had six complaints in the last year about Chitty and has been "attempting to work alongside" her.
The SPCA has also visited the property, but because an investigation is underway they can't comment.
For now, the taken dogs are still with HUHA.
