Weeks after van broke down, surviving dogs arrive in Minnesota

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. (KMSP) - Earlier this month, 11 of 50 dogs being transported by an animal rescue group from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Minnesota died when the van carrying them broke down in north Mississippi. Now, the surviving dogs are being welcomed to Minnesota.

Of the surviving dogs, 30 were brought to the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley Sunday morning.

On July 6, the van left the Southern Pines Animal shelter at about 1:30 p.m. The group stopped four hours later near Sardis, Mississippi, and the two volunteer drivers discovered the dead dogs as they worked to unload them.

A statement from the shelter on its Facebook page Saturday said the vehicle was undergoing a thorough inspection.

Group Director Ginny Simms told WREG-TV that they believe carbon monoxide poisoning from a mechanical malfunction - not the heat - may have been to blame for the accident.

Sims says the remaining animals remain under observation.