DENVER, N.C. -- Vickie Rogers cried tears of joy as she watched an Animal Control team take about 170 animals from her neighbor's home in Denver.

"We can't believe this is happening," she said.

Rogers and other neighbors said for about 18 years they have lived next door to an out of control collection of animals on Petite Lane. They said the sound was awful and the smell unbearable.

"It's like being around a sewer plant," said neighbor Lee Beacham.

Complaints from them and other neighbors drew attention to the former rescue. The Lincoln County Animal Control director said a recent visit by state agriculture officials led them to launch Operation Noah's Ark. It is a name that comes from the fact that owner Vicki Rauch said she had about 150 dogs, cats, goats, birds of all kinds, mice, gerbils, horses and a llama.

Director Jack Kerly said the animals were pinned or tied down outside with no cover and their drinking water was green with algae or brown.

"It's a sad thing that an animal in this condition has to live in this environment," Kerly said.

Dozens of officials and firefighters began taking the animals Tuesday morning. Between 40 and 50 of them lived in the house with Rauch, her husband and children. Rauch said some of the animals were diseased and injured before she took them in.

Rauch told Eyewitness News the surprise raid stressed her 19-year-old son so much that he had to be taken to the hospital.

"I'm being punished for taking in dogs that need help," she said.

Rauch said since 1993, her neighbors and Animal Control have harassed her for helping animals that would otherwise be put to sleep.

Animal Control workers set up a mobile animal hospital Tuesday near the home the animals where seized. It's similar to the kind of hospitals that were set up to help stranded and wounded animals on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Animal Control officials said the mobile hospital was needed because there were more animals at the Denver home than they have at the county's shelter, so there simply wasn't enough room to hold the animals.

Kerly couldn’t say if the animals may be adopted to new homes. He said there is a chance that some of them may be returned to Rauch if a judge allows it.

Rauch has not been charged. She is still under investigation for animal cruelty.