SUMMERDALE - Police unearthed two dozen more animal corpses buried around the abandoned Purple Hearted Puppies rescue facility Thursday after digging for nearly four hours.

"We quit digging," Police Chief Eddie Ingram said. "We could have dug for days and probably found more. Literally, every time we stuck the shovel in the ground, we hit a carcass."

Police received reports from former employees about the graves during their investigation. Officers brought out shovels to the six-acre facility to gather more evidence for the massive animal cruelty case. Police also executed search warrants for the owners' residences.

Several bodies were found buried together in mass graves, indicating that several of the deceased pets died around the same time, Ingram said.

"We had found two graves that had multiple carcasses. It didn't look like they buried a sick animal here and there every now and again. These animals were dying around the same time. It shows that the neglect has been happening for a while," Ingram said.

Roberta Dueitt, 63, and her daughter, Sharon Dueitt, 29, turned themselves in for felony animal cruelty charges Friday morning. Police are still collecting evidence for the case, Ingram said.

"They called it a nonprofit, but what it looks like to me is they were taking dogs they could sell and taking care of them. The dogs they couldn't sell, they stuck in the back and basically let them starve to death. It's my personal opinion, but that's what it looks like," Ingram said.

Only 58 dogs and 51 cats survived the week out of the 200 that were originally recovered from the neglected boarding complex. The Dueitt women signed over legal custody of the 109 survivors to the Baldwin County Humane Society Thursday night.

BARC! officials are coordinating the recovery effort. The organization is asking owners that boarded pets at Purple Hearted Puppies to send in photos and descriptions of their animals.

"All of our efforts are going to the survivors," BARC! Executive Director Sonja Presley said. "This Purple Hearted Puppies incident should be a call to action. Call your legislators, get involved. We need more stringent laws dealing with animal cruelty."

Officers with the Summerdale Police Department have logged more than $10,000 in overtime pay from last week, according to Ingram.

"It took a chunk out of our budget," Ingram said. "Our town council has been behind it 100 percent. The community response has been fantastic. We couldn't have done it without their help. That's just the flat truth. If we had to handle the cost alone, it would have been a tremendous cost to our town."

Animals were left alone for almost two weeks without food or water before police responded to a report from a neighbor Jan. 27 claiming to see a feline corpse on the property. Some dogs resorted to cannibalism to survive, police said.

Summerdale police turned over the case to the Baldwin County District Attorney's office Wednesday.

"We appreciate the cooperation from the DA's office," Ingram said. "Hallie Dixon has gone above and beyond. We can't say enough."