Police and volunteers were testing, cleaning and treating dogs at a Buxton kennel Wednesday afternoon after seizing more than 250 dogs from what one rescuer called a puppy mill.

Police Tuesday worked with the Westbrook Animal Refuge League and the Kennebunk Animal Welfare Society to remove an estimated 50 dogs from the site. The remaining dogs at the kennel are quarantined and under 24-hour watch while they are being tested for Giardia and Sarcoptic Mange.

“This is the largest seizure ever in Maine,” said Susan Britt, director of operations at the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook.

More than 40 volunteers were working with veterinarians from animal agencies to clean and treat the animals in a rescue operation that officials estimated could cost more than $100,000.

Buxton police served a search warrant at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at J’aime Kennel, at 35 Paucek Road, to search for medical and veterinary records, and to seize animals to test for disease. Police said that several dogs and puppies had been diagnosed with Sarcoptic Mange. Giardia, a one-cell parasite, had already been diagnosed in a puppy sold from the kennel.

John Frasca, 53, and Heidi Frasca, 52, were issued 14 summonses for an unlicensed kennel and two for animal cruelty and one for failing to provide necessary medical treatment to animals, police said. Further charges could be filed after the case is reviewed by the York County District Attorney’s Office.

The Frascas didn’t respond to telephone messages and an e-mail request for comment Wednesday. A no-trespassing sign was posted on a tree, and a log partially blocked Paucek Road Wednesday.

Buxton police held a press conference Wednesday morning to describe the seizure. Also on hand were Britt; Steven Jacobsen, executive director of the Animal Welfare Society, and Carol Ann MacKinnon, program coordinator; and Christine Fraser, a state veterinarian with the Animal Welfare Department of the Agriculture Department.

Officer Mike Grovo of Buxton police, the investigating officer, said a court appearance for the Frascas had been set for 1 p.m. on Nov. 14 in Biddeford District Court.

The kennel raised several expensive breeds, including French bulldogs, Brussels Griffons and Shetland sheepdogs, according to kennel Web site information.

On the Web site for J’aime Kennel, French bulldogs were priced at around $2,000. Brussels Griffons were priced from $1,200 to $1,500. The site said each puppy spends “his/her first few weeks in our house and then at weaning time he/she was transferred to the kennel to get used to noises, other dogs and other kinds of animals. During these weeks we socialize the puppies and allow them some time out of their kennel runs. They are exposed to young children, older dogs and given lots of attention by all of us.” The animals were also eligible for registration with the American Kennel Club.

Some pitbull puppies were removed from the kennel and brought to the Animal Refuge League.

Grovo said kennels are required to be licensed by the town and the state. A town license requires an inspection. “We’ve attempted several times to inspect it, but have been turned away in the past year,” Grovo said.

Fraser, the state vet, said she believed the kennel had been due for re-licensing by the state in November, but it was not renewed. She said the kennel was first licensed in 2001.

“The state denied the license because of multiple statute and rule violations for breeding animals,” Fraser said Wednesday.

“The facility is not working with us,” Fraser said at the press conference, held outside the Buxton Police Department.

Fraser said the state has had multiple concerns with diseases at the kennel over the years, and it had been once quarantined in 2005. This week, Fraser said, authorities found ill puppies, some emaciated animals, strong odors and overcrowding.

“A lot of mother dogs are in pretty rough shape,” Fraser said. “We’re getting physicals on the animals.”

Buxton Police Chief Jody Thomas said several animals had been removed for emergency treatment.

But some of those removed had been returned to the kennel. “We are looking to get them off site as soon as possible,” said Fraser.

Staffs from the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook and the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk assisted Buxton police.

Britt said Tuesday was a fact-finding day. She said police entered the kennel first to gather evidence with state animal welfare agents. “These animals are considered evidence,” Britt said.

Then, rescue workers began an inventory of the animals and assigned each an ID number. Three medical teams, each with a vet, worked at the kennel Tuesday and Wednesday, Britt said.

Britt had a staff of five at the kennel. The animals were being fed food that was at the site. “Our primary role is feeding and cleaning,” Britt said. “To my standards, it was dirty.”

A small number of puppies, along with two adult dogs and two rabbits, were taken to the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook.

MacKinnon, of the Animal Welfare Society, said that shelter Wednesday was housing 15 of the seized animals. “They were taken out because they needed extra care,” MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon defined a puppy mill as a facility that raises puppies in large quantites and places profits above the welfare of the animals. “Unfortunately, that fits this case,” she said.

A spokeswoman at the Buxton Code Enforcement Office said Heidi A. Frasca and John C. Frasca were listed as owners of the property at 35 Paucek Road, according to tax records. The deed to the property was registered on June 28, 2001.

Rob Metcalf, co-owner of Longhorn Horse and Pet Supply on Longplains Road in Buxton, said Wednesday that the kennel had been a customer for bedding and some dog food.

“I’m surprised,” Metcalf said Wednesday hearing news about the seizure. “We’re very surprised.”

Daisy Okas, a spokeswoman for the American Kennel Club in New York, said the Frascas’ kennels were inspected in 2004, and they were in good standing. Since then, however, the AKC has run into problems.

“We have attempted to inspect them a number of times this year, as recently as June 26, but they refused inspection,” Okas said. “They weren’t the friendliest in terms of welcoming us to do inspections.”

She said the AKC employs 14 full-time inspectors across the counrtry.

“The next step for us is to put their registration privileges on hold, which we are doing,” she said Wednesday. “They won’t be able to register dogs or partake in any AKC business until the matter is resolved.”