GAMALIEL, Ark. -- The fate of more than 450 dogs hangs in the balance. More information has surfaced about their backgrounds and the history of a woman who had them on her property.

Last Friday, sheriff's deputies discovered the dogs and arrested the wife and husband who said they were taking care of them. Tammy and William Hanson called their property Every Dog Needs a Home Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. The each face a charge of animal cruelty and eventually could face more charges.

The whole situation is now in the legal system, and that rarely goes quickly. The first hearing is Thursday at 11 a.m. The prosecutor wants a judge to allow authorities to take the dogs off the property so they can have shelter and, if possible, be reunited with their families.

Since Saturday, the situation has become more complex, with more questions arising about the origin of the dogs and the history of the woman who says she was taking care of them.

The volunteers working to care for 450+ dogs knew from the beginning that about half the animals were from the Hurricane Katrina region. The number of dogs on the property grew since last Friday because some puppies were born.

The newest surprise for the volunteers is some of the dogs have collars and tags from places closer to the Ozarks.

“There's a dog up there with a Kansas City tag on it,” said Desiree Bender, with Where Angels Run, a pit bull rescue service.

They believe many of these dogs have owners who are looking for them. Some have already called in to the sheriff.

“We've had 40 to 50 calls of locals saying their pets have disappeared and trying to make sure they're not on that property,” said Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.

The animal rescue organization that placed dozens of dogs from the Gulf with the Hansons says it didn't know about the problems at their facility. However, a check into the background of the owners would have raised several red flags.

In 2003, sheriff's deputies in Cass County, Mo., near Harrisonville, in response to neighbors' complaints, raided a home where Tammy Hanson kept more than 80 dogs. In that case, the prosecutor dropped charges.

In 1997, a court in Cook County, Ill., found Tammy Hanson, then Tammy Doneski, guilty of impersonating a doctor.

At the present, though, the sheriff's department's first priority is to care for dogs they can't legally move from the property.

“The other is to negotiate a court order to place these animals in other shelters and that's what we're hoping to negotiate in the next few days,” said Montgomery.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Tammy Hanson said she never even received a ticket for the incident in Cass County, and she says that was just a zoning violation. She says the charge in Cook County was unfounded, but she was convicted of that crime. She also said she and her attorney plan to be in court on Thursday to fight the charges against her and the transfer of legal custody of the dogs. The Hansons are barred from their property while the sheriff's department continues its investigation and volunteers care for the dogs.