Authorities say they were alerted to the situation by a contractor taking photos of a dilapidated home in the town of Stratford, in the southern Adirondacks.
They had no food or water, and officials aren't sure when the animals were last fed.
This isn't the first time authorities have visited the home.
“It makes me sad that the poor things had to go through as much as they did,” said Karen Jaquay, Stratford dog control officer.
Police say 22 mastiffs were kept at the Stratford home inside a boarded residence and makeshift kennels. “The house is really in deplorable conditions. The dogs have defecated throughout the house. There's dead dogs inside the house,” said Capt. Michael Tietz, a New York State Police officer.
This isn't the first time 55-year-old Bentley Valdez has been spoken to about his dogs. Animal control was first notified this past August.
She says she met with Valdez monthly until December. And upon walking into the home on Wednesday, “I was, I was shocked,” Jaquay said.
Conditions changing so drastically she doesn't know what went wrong.
“I see a man that has lost a little bit of touch with reality, what he can do for these animals and what he actually is doing,” she said.
He's been released on bond.
