Cop finds 21 dogs left outside in the cold

ROCKY POINT, N.Y. (FOX 5 NY) - Hearing barking, a police officer on patrol found 21 dogs left outside a home during the bitterly cold Thanksgiving morning.

Officer Karen Grenia found 12 Rottweilers in the backyard and another nine inside crates in a shed just before 10 a.m., according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

Jose Borgos, 52, who lives at the home, said he is a dog breeder. Authorities arrested and charged him with breaking the state law and county code about keeping animals outside in below-freezing temperatures.

Chaining or leashing or confining a dog outdoors when the temperature dips below freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) is against the law in Suffolk County. Dogs and other pets left outdoors in freezing weather can quickly get disoriented, develop frostbite, and freeze to death.

Brookhaven Animal Control responded to the home and will decide where the dogs will go.

Fox5NY.com reported this story from New York City.