ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – An Oklahoma man is sitting in the St. Louis City jail Saturday after prosecutors charged him with over a dozen animal abuse charges, saying he showed up at a local crematorium with four dead dogs. Police say they found a total of 16 dogs in dire conditions in the man’s box truck.

St. Louis City prosecutors charged 38-year-old Robert Peters of Noble, Oklahoma, Friday with nine counts of animal abuse by torture, a class E felony, and seven counts of animal abuse, a class A misdemeanor. Peters is being held at the St. Louis City Justice Center without bond.

According to a police probable cause statement, officers received a call on Friday from a local crematorium saying a man had brought four dogs to be cremated. An employee of the crematorium told officers it wasn’t unusual for people to request their dogs be cremated, but it was unusual for someone to bring in four at once.

When officers arrived, they said they found Peters and his box truck at the scene. Police say Peters told them he owns an animal transportation business for animals that he runs out of their Oklahoma home.

Inside the box truck, police said they found 16 dogs in dire condition. Four of the dogs in the truck were dead. Seven other dogs were in what police said were “near death” and critical condition. The other five dogs were in stable condition.

Police said many of the dogs were covered in their own feces and urine, and that a “sawdust-like powder” covered the dogs and truck. Police said the dogs appeared lethargic due to the high temperatures in the back of the box truck.

Police, along with St. Louis Animal Control, took the dogs from the scene.

First Alert 4 is working to gather more information on the dogs’ condition after they were taken from Peters.

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