ST. LOUIS - A would-be buyer who found a lethargic puppy instead of the frisky one she had hoped for tipped off police to a "puppy mill" in southwest Missouri where 208 sickly dogs and an underweight Bengal tiger were confiscated.

Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said Friday that the woman asked to see the puppy's parents, but the breeder wouldn't allow it. That's when deputies were called. The deputies saw the tiger, which was properly registered with the Sheriff's Department, and thought it appeared to be in poor health.

The investigation snowballed into Thursday's raid and the sickening discovery of dozens of dogs housed without water in open-air cages at the site near Seneca and the remnants of puppy carcasses in the tiger's cage.

"If you're an animal lover, you'd sit down and cry," Copeland said, describing the scene.

The dogs and puppies taken in the raid at J.B. Precious Puppies were trucked to St. Louis, where the Humane Society of Missouri is cleaning and caring for them at its headquarters on Macklind Avenue. The tiger was sedated and taken to a zoo in Springfield, Mo. Copeland said a veterinarian estimated that the tiger weighed less than half of what it should have

The facility's owner, Jewel Bond, 66, was charged Friday with two counts of animal abuse. One count covers the dogs; the other count is for the tiger. Each count is punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Bond lives near Seneca, a town of about 2,100 people not far from Joplin.

Repeated calls to Bond's home went unanswered Friday. But she told Todd G. Higdon, a reporter for the Neosho, Mo., Daily News who was on site during the raid, that the removal of the animals was a "dirty deal" stemming from problems two years ago with her hairdresser.

"I have raised dogs here for over 30 years," Bond said. "And I love raising the dogs."

Copeland said Bond told investigators that heart problems kept her from taking better care of the animals.

"Even if she is telling the truth, that is no defense whatsoever for not caring for these animals," Copeland said. "This was a puppy mill. The structure out front was an office building and glass cages so people could come and see a decent-looking dog. But when you go out back, it was like rabbit hutches, exposed to the weather. And I'm sure these dogs for their entire lifetime had never touched the ground."

The dogs had automatic feeders in their cages, but the automatic watering system was broken. Some of the dogs had water that was frozen. "About 95 percent of the dogs had no water," the sheriff said. A veterinarian said some appeared dehydrated. Two puppy carcasses, primarily bones and hair, were found in the tiger's cage.

"We assume she was feeding it dead puppies," Copeland said.

About 170 of the dogs are small breeds like chihuahuas, Boston terriers, miniature pinchers, lhasa apsos, pomeranians and West Highland terriers. Four were pregnant. So far, none has had to be euthanized.

"All will most likely make a full recovery," said Kendra Murphy of the Humane Society.

To make room for them, some of the Humane Society's other dogs that are ready for adoption are being moved to the Humane Society's Westport and Chesterfield Valley centers.

The Humane Society says that Bond, the breeder, was fined $10,000 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in January 2006 for various violations. And in 2007, Copeland said, Bond was the subject of a raid in which 127 animals were confiscated. Bond signed those animals over to the state. They were cleaned up, treated and sold at auction. After the state's expenses were paid, the proceeds from the sale were turned over to Bond, the sheriff said.

She was not charged with a crime in 2007, Copeland said. "She turned around and went right back into business without a license," the sheriff added.

Contact Kim Bell at (314) 340-8115 or kbell@post-dispatch.com.