Wichita ? Citing concern for public safety, a judge has granted the city’s request to euthanize 51 pit bulls seized in July from a breeder who kept them in cramped crates stacked in his basement.

But Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost on Friday also stayed his order for 10 days to give the breeder, Timothy Collins, a chance to appeal.

Police said the pit bulls were discovered when a state social worker went to check on the welfare of an 11-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl living there. In all, 69 dogs were seized from the house, but 18 died or had to be euthanized because of disease.

In court Friday, a lawyer for the city said keeping the dogs since July 25 has hampered operations at the Wichita Animal Shelter at a cost of nearly $30,000.

“It has essentially shut down the animal shelter for its essential purpose – to claim strays from the community and hold them until their owners claim them,” Assistant City Atty. Jay Hinkel said.

The city does not place pit bulls for adoption.

On the day Collins’ pit bulls arrived at the shelter, the city asked Pals Animal Rescue to take other animals out to make room for them, Pals director Ellen Querner said at the time.

By late October, animal shelter workers were saying they had no animals for adoption because of the resources being used by the pit bulls.

Collins, 39, wants the city to return the 51 surviving dogs and has offered to reimburse the city for its expenses.