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The animals were discovered at an Albany home, located on Morris Street, after Albany Police received a complaint that they were being subjected to poor living conditions, according to the department.
Officers first went to the home on Friday, March 31, where they found one adult mixed breed dog and one mixed breed puppy inside walking in a room that had urine, feces, and uncapped syringes, police said.
A 30-year-old resident, Jonathan Willis, was arrested and charged with two counts of animal cruelty and one count of failing to license his dog.
After obtaining a search warrant, police returned to the home on Thursday, April 20, this time finding 15 dogs inside.
The nine adult mixed breed dogs and six mixed breed puppies had no food or water, and were found in a room with urine, feces, and drug paraphernalia, police said.
An additional five suspects were arrested and each charged with 15 counts of animal cruelty and nine counts of failing to license their dogs.
They were identified as:
- Robert Barton, age 58, of Albany
- Alexandra Marci, age 35, of Albany
- Jesse Dutcher, age 27, of Albany
- Dalton Dutcher, age 33, of Albany
- Christian Billings, age 50, of Albany
Police said all of the dogs were being cared for by the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society.
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