Max is Shephard mix. He weighes just under 33 lbs. But a dog his size should weigh about 20 more.
"Children on a school bus kept seeing these dogs get skinnier and skinnier as the year went on. They told their parents who in turn contacted the Humane Society," said Ronald Perez, the President of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society.
Max and four others were found on Friday, on Alcove Road in Hannacroix. Each one was down about a third of what they should weigh. Tonight, their owner, 43-year-old Sandra Maurer of Greene County faces five counts of animal cruelty for failing to provide proper sustenance.
"So that's extremely emaciated. It doesn't get much worse than this other than death. They certainly wouldn't have made it through this winter in the condition they are in," said Perez.
On top of that many suffer from dehydration, intestinal parasites, fleas, ticks, lyme disease, even possible mange. For each dog, Maurer faces up to one year in jail and $ 1,000 in fines. She declined to comment to us on camera, but told Fox 23 she has hired a lawyer and plans to fight this. She said she is innocent and that her dogs were fine. Perez disagreed.
"You couldn't have remorse, look at these dogs every day and not feel badly for them if you cared. And it was pretty clear she didn't," said Perez.
He also said that it will take these dogs about a month to fully recover. After that they will be up for adoption.
