A man in the Hudson Valley is facing charges after officials say dozens of dogs were found living in awful conditions, News 12 reported. The case came to light after authorities responded to a home where a large number of animals were being kept, and what they found has led to a string of cruelty charges against the man who lived there. Reporter Melanie Palmer detailed the discovery for the station.
In total, 34 dogs were found at the home in Patterson, and officials said the animals were almost all in a state of emaciation. According to the account, the dogs were not properly fed and did not have the right amount of nutrition, leaving many of them severely underweight. One observer described marks that were almost like bed sores on the animals from being so emaciated.
The discovery came shortly after officials with the Putnam County SPCA say they received a complaint about the large number of dogs being kept at the property. Acting on that tip, investigators went to the home and uncovered the scale of the situation, finding far more animals than they typically encounter in cases of this kind and in conditions that prompted immediate action.
Chief Ken Ross told News 12 that a majority of the dogs showed clear signs of neglect, including skin infections. He noted that while his agency has made arrests involving hundreds of cats in the past, it is rarely the number of dogs that they saw in this case. The remark underscored how unusual the sheer quantity of neglected dogs was for local investigators.
As a result of the discovery, 64-year-old Kevin Burgesson was arrested and charged with 34 counts of animal cruelty, one count for each of the dogs found at the property. Officials said the individual had been operating as a breeder, which helped explain why so many animals were being housed at a single location when investigators arrived on the scene.
News 12 said it called a number listed for Burgesson online, but the call went to voicemail. He is due in court later this month to face the charges against him. The legal process now moves forward as authorities continue to build the case around the conditions in which the dogs were discovered and the care they were said to have been denied.
As for the animals themselves, officials said they are working with internal medicine doctors and specialists to get every one of the dogs healthy again. The rescued dogs are primarily Labradors, and there are also several French bulldogs among them. The focus now turns to nursing the emaciated animals back to health while the cruelty case proceeds through the courts.