Twenty-four-year-old John Hessert has pleaded not guilty to one felony count of aggravated animal cruelty and 33 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. His father, 56-year-old Stephen Hessert, said he'd keep the animals at his home in Maine.

District Judge Holly Brown ruled this week that the dogs could be moved because they're not needed as evidence. She also said Hessert's father would follow court orders, including caring for the dogs and keeping his son away from the animals.

Court records state that a man called animal control January 30th to report that the dogs were being kept in an unsafe environment outside West Yellowstone. The man said he hadn't seen the dogs' owner in several days and the dogs were emaciated and in poor condition.