He claimed police were always against his kennel. Then cops found three dead dogs.

A man is facing more than 30 animal abuse charges after police found several dogs, some of them dead, at his self-operated kennel in Hickory.

Police were called to a building on Wednesday to investigate a suspicious vehicle. When officers arrived, they found several dogs on the property, according to a release. At least three of them had died, according to multiple media reports.

The kennel’s operator, 37-year-old Daniel Pride, was arrested and charged with 33 felony counts of animal cruelty for not being able to provide water, food, and warmth for the animals, Fox 46 reported.

Pride also faces weapons and drug-related charges, according to Hickory Police.

The building Pride kept the dogs in had “bare minimum heat” and didn’t meet the city’s fire code, a Hickory police official told the Hickory Daily Record.

“We could clearly see these dogs were emaciated, and did not have any means visible to us of food or water,” the official told the newspaper on Wednesday.

Pride said he had previous interactions with police, in which they told him he needed to get a commercial building for the kennel, Kash Line Kennels. He was also told to get a kennel license, according to a GoFundMe page he created.

The GoFundMe, which was set up in October, was Pride’s attempt to raise money for the building to house his dogs, all American bullies.

By Thursday, Pride’s kennel had raised just $200 of his $5,000 goal.

A woman claiming to be Pride’s girlfriend disputed claims that the dogs were malnourished and told various media that raising the American bullies has been Pride’s passion for years.

“You know he’s starting up a new line, he was trying to get his business together, and they are trying to get him for animal cruelty,” the woman told Spectrum News. “...they were trying to say they were starved, no they were not.”

Pride is being held on $103,000 bond, Hickory police officials said.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 2:30 PM with the headline "He claimed police were always against his kennel. Then cops found three dead dogs.."