LITTLETON — More than 20 horses, alpacas, and llamas were taken from a Main Street home this week after being found neglected by the owners.

"The manure and the muck was so deep, they couldn't even move," said Teresa Paradis, executive director of Live and Let Live Farm in Chichester, the group that helped rescue the animals.

Paradis was called in by Littleton police and representatives from the state Department of Agriculture after Littleton residents started to complain about the conditions of the animals, she said.

"It's a good thing the state and the police were on it right away, because it could have been much, much worse," she said.

The animals were getting out of their pens and their small living area had become overflowing with muck, she said. Some of the smaller horses were falling down in the filth, she said. Witnesses said the muck was eight inches deep, she said.

"It was really deep," she said.

The owners had become unable to care for all of the animals, most of which were brought into the state in the past year from Nevada, she said.

Paradis and the volunteers with Live and Let Live loaded up 16 of the animals last week, and the others went to neighbors, she said. Many need medical care and her volunteers suspect the animals have developed abscesses under the muck. She also is worried that some of the mares have become pregnant when the animals were kept without any gender separation.

Some of the animals are emaciated from lack of food, and many have hoove problems and other health care issues.

“Hooves are over-grown and not properly cared for, horses have been seen stumbling and falling down when trying to walk," she said.

Live and Let Lie now has 71 horse it has rescued, mostly from people who are no longer able to afford the animal care. The farm also has small animals like goats, and dogs it has rescued. The tough economic times has left the farm with more animals to care for, and fewer people willing to adopt them, she said.

"This is really a tough one for us," she said.

The farm will have to find a way to pay for feed and medical care for all the animals it now has, she said.

“The cost of hay, feed, supplements and what appears to be extensive medical rehabilitation care, dental and hoof care needed as well as the gelding surgery expenses, will be in the thousands,” she said.

Donations for the medical fund, feed and hay are welcome and can be made at the rescue's website by credit or debit card or through the Pay Pal account at: www.liveandletlivefarm.org , or by mail to Live and Let Live Farm Rescue, 20 Paradise Lane, Chichester, NH 03258