Dozens of dogs were resting in their new homes Sunday night after being rescued from a puppy mill in Missouri.

"Dogs are not commodities, they are not money makers, they are our friends and our companions," Theresa Strader, with the Mill Dog Rescue Network said.

Strader and her team of volunteers were tired, hungry, and emotionally exhausted as they unloaded dozens of dogs from their van after returning from a rescue trip to a puppy mill Sunday.

"We got many many breeder release dogs, which are dogs that the mills no longer want for a variety of reasons," Strader said.

She said if the dogs were not rescued, they would have been killed. She said many of them have physical and emotional scars from their abuse.

"Most of them live in small sheds, deep in the woods, and they live in small wire cages their whole lives often times in darkness," Strader said

Sunday, the dogs lives were changed forever. They were adopted by other rescues. From there, they will be placed in loving homes.

"Every time I do to one of these runs that we go on, I think this is man's best friend, and the conditions that they end up in is just criminal," Strader said.

She said they have made at least six trips to Missouri and rescued over 300 dogs. She said there next trip is still in the works, adding that many of the dogs you see on-line and at pet stores were bred at puppy mills.

She encourages people to adopt from rescues and the Humane Society.  For more information log onto their website at www.milldogrescue.org.