SPRINGSIDE, Sask. - A Saskatchewan woman and an animal protection group are at odds over whether dogs that ate the remains of their dead owners should be killed or put up for adoption.

The dogs belonged to a couple who died in their rural home near Springside in eastern Saskatchewan. RCMP were called to the house July 3 when the owners hadn't been seen for a couple of weeks. Foul play is not suspected.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the seven dogs resorted to eating their owners' remains to survive.

Tiffiny Koback of the Saskatoon SPCA said the dogs need socialization because they had an isolated life with the couple. She said the animals didn't show any signs of aggressive or threatening behaviour when they were brought to the shelter.

"We have had professional groomers come in and clean them up and they were very co-operative," Koback said Tuesday.

"There were no difficulties or no concerning behaviour when they were groomed and bathed. And typically if you're going to see concerning behaviour, you're going to see it when they're being groomed because they're being manipulated and handled.

"That was a good indication for us that there's a lot of potential with these dogs."

Koback said the dogs appear to be physically healthy and a local rescue group is working with them. If all goes well, they should be available for adoption. Any new owner would be told about the dogs' background.

But Margaret-Ann Irving, who lives near and knew the couple, is worried.

Irving, who has been a dog breeder for 43 years, says the animals should be put down because they have behavioural issues.

"These dogs were out of control before this happened," said Irving.

"If these were just Joe Blow's dogs that had eaten somebody, I'd probably feel the same way as the SPCA does. They had nothing else to eat, they had no alternative. There's way more to this. These dogs are inbred, they're not properly socialized and they're fear biters.

"Anybody who knows me, and a lot of people do, know it's a very hard call for me to say to kill a dog. But ... you've got to be realistic. They're going to try to put these fear-biting dogs that have been living on human flesh in homes where they could be exposed to children. That's just ludicrous!"

Irving said she found what she believed were human remains in a dog house in the couple's yard. Irving said she went to the RCMP on Monday to tell them about the grisly find.

Koback said the SPCA is not worried that the dogs ate human flesh and added that the dogs didn't have anything to do with the deaths of their owners. It's not typical for a dog to prey upon a person.

"They really aren't going to be looking at a small child and eyeing them up as if they're a dinner just waiting to be had."