DE SOTO, Kan. -- Parents of children enrolled at a De Soto day care that has been shut down by the state told KCTV5 that investigators have gotten the situation all wrong.

On Friday, the parents were visibly upset and almost driven to tears over the loss of a day care that they said was the next best thing to being at home for their children.

"When a mother leaves a child to go to work, they want to leave them at a place they can trust and they feel that they're taken care of," parent Kristie Krause said. "that what this day care was."

Not according to the state, which said that Cheryl Schuler's home day care in De Soto was filthy and not fit for children. The state shut down the day care this week, citing violations such as hazardous chemicals within children's reach, abundant filth and an area filled with 12 dogs in kennels which state officials said didn't give the kids much room to move inside.

"They are in clean kennels," Krause said. "The children are not around them. There was no filth. It was a clean, typical house."

Parents who have brought their kids to Schuler for years said she's getting a raw deal.

"It's appalling that people would think that we as parents would leave our children in a place like that," said parent Jamie Shurtz. "That was not the way it was kept."

Schuler has referred parents to another day care provider in the area in the meantime, but parents said they don't want another person looking after their children. They want the state to fix the situation.

"I hope her name is cleared and she gets to watch my children again," Krause said. "Because I don't trust anyone else with my kids."