Monroe County sportsmen on Wednesday delivered food and other items to a group of beagles that were removed from “deplorable conditions” in a Lehigh Valley home.

The Eldred Beagle Club, based out of Kunkletown, got together and dropped off the items at the Lehigh County Humane Society, according to Ryan Grube, president of the club.

“It did seem like they were getting a lot of donations,” Grube said. “We could not see the dogs because they weren’t all checked and approved.”

Grube said it was nice to see a group of people through an affiliated AKC club, “come together and support something that we really don’t know much about.”

On Wednesday some of the members traveled to the humane society to donate more than 30 bags of dog food, cleaning supplies, towels and a cash donation from two of the members. With Grube were Rusty Schoenberger and Roger George, both of Lehighton, and Pete and Cyndi Zakanycz of Nazareth.

Grube posted on the club’s Facebook page, “Beyond what most people, who have no clue what is going on, are saying, most of the dogs have a serious case of fleas, skin infections, bacterial infections and are malnourished.”

“While there, we got to speak to the humane officer, and while we were there, they were taking nine more dogs to the vet for serious health issues. The humane society also did not force anyone to hand the dogs over. The dogs were voluntarily signed over to them due to the inability of the owner to provide proper care for the dogs.”

He added, “I hope for the shelter and the dogs’ sake that everything works out with all the dogs.”

The club participates in AKC field trials. The club’s mission is to promote the sport of beagling and the betterment of the breed of beagles.

Grube said members decided “to help out because it was beagles for the most part and the amount that they took in.”

They recently sponsored a spaghetti dinner to help one of their members who had a stroke.

Animal welfare workers said 71 beagles were removed from “deplorable conditions” in a Pennsylvania home.

Barbara Morgan, an officer with the Lehigh County Humane Society, previously said she expects to file charges against the owner of the home near Allentown where the dogs were discovered.

Many of the dogs were sickly and underweight. Morgan says they range from weeks old to senior-aged.

Staffers were called to the home over noise complaints.

Morgan she’d never seen so many dogs squeezed into such a small space.

The Lehigh County Humane Society says in a Facebook posting the dogs are being evaluated and information on adoption will be available in coming days.

Until then, they are in need of donations to help care for them, including wet food, towels, sheets and leashes.