CARTERSVILLE -- After failing to halt a Bartow County puppy auction, animal rescue activists showed up at the event Saturday with thousands of dollars, and angered many in the crowd by outbidding them.

"These animals have lived in deplorable conditions for all their lives, being bred over and over and over again," said Eden Cherry of Southern Hope Humane Society. "We want to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Auctioneers sold 206 small-breed dogs that were taken from a puppy mill in Cartersville after the owner died. One sold for $855.

Humane society members said they bid on dogs if they feared they would wind up in other puppy mills. One member told WSB-TV they brought $40,000 to the auction.

Other bidders objected, with one woman shouting, "Why are you outbidding him? How rude!"

"They feel like they're going from one cage to another, but that's not what we do," Cherry said. "We vet them and then we make sure they get wonderful homes. They're going to be somebody's housepet and not be bred again."

Channel Two correspondent Tara Jones contributed to this report.