A Jamestown teenager faces four counts of animal cruelty after police responded to a north side home after a complaint of neglected dogs.

Peyton L. Murray, 19, of Jamestown was charged with four counts of overdriving, torturing, injuring animals/failure to provide proper sustenance. He was taken to the city jail before being released with a ticket to be in Jamestown City Court later.

According to a police report, officers tried to make contact with someone in the home at 7:54 p.m. Tuesday but there was no response. Officers checked the outside of the property and saw through a rear window four dogs confined in separate cages, according to a police report. All of the dogs, according to officers, appeared heavily soiled with accumulated feces. One dog was reportedly seen dead inside one of the cages. At 9:50 p.m. officers were able to enter the home with permission from a person associated with the property and made contact with Murray, who police say was identified as the person responsible for the care of the animals.

Police allege the animals were confined to a rear room of the home, each kept in a separate cage that contained significant accumulations of feces, and that none of the animals had access to clean food or fresh drinking water. Police say the dogs had remained in their cages for a approximately a month without being let outside, while the dog that was found dead allegedly had died several days before police were contacted. The dog’s death may have been caused by the cold temperatures within the room.

The animals were removed from the home by police officers.