Breeder arrested for keeping over 700 dogs at Georgia 'puppy mill'

March 8 (UPI) -- Authorities arrested a 58-year-old Georgia man Thursday after more than 700 dogs were taken from what investigators said were "horrific conditions."

Police arrested Reason Craig Gray for keeping the dogs on his business property, which was described by authorities as a puppy mill.

Georgia agriculture officials said the dogs were found living in 3-foot-by-4 foot crates at his business, called Georgia Puppies, in Nashville, Ga.

"They were living outside in homemade sheds, and the crates were stacked on top of each other," Atlanta Humane Society spokeswoman Christina Hill told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "So when they went to the bathroom, it would drip down onto the other dogs."

Berrien Sheriff Ray Paulk questioned how Gray could get away with breeding so many animals in those conditions for so long.

"There are many questions yet to be answered," he said. "One huge one is how this licensed pet dealer was allowed to have an operation with this many beautiful creatures to be able to populate to the point of being out of control and inhumane."

In a statement on Facebook, the sheriff's office said it found 85 more dogs before it arrested Gray.

"There are numerous charges pending," it said. "There is no way to tell just how many charges will be filed."

The U.S. Humane Society already had Gray on its radar -- naming him last year on its "Horrible Hundred" animal breeders for past state inspections violations.