In a horrifying incident, more than 1,000 dead dogs were found on the grounds of a house in Yangpyeong, 60 km east of  Seoul, and police are investigating a man in his 60s on charges of violating animal protection law, according to a report in The Korea Herald.

The man said he collected abandoned dogs and starved them to death, but animal rights activists allege that he was paid by dog breeders to get rid of dogs who couldn’t get pregnant anymore or whose commercial value had declined.

A representative of animal rights group Care told cable news channel MBN that the man was paid 10,000 ($7.60) won per dog to “take care of them,” and he just locked them up and starved them to death from 2020.

A resident in the neighbourhood who was looking for his lost dog found the house full of dead dogs on Saturday, and reported the matter to the police.

KBS and other broadcasters showed blurred images of dead dogs in cages, sacks and rubber containers on the ground in the yard.

The dead bodies had rotten and created a layer on the ground, on top of which more dead dogs were placed to create another layer, according to Care staff who observed the scene.

Four live dogs were rescued from the house and are under treatment at a clinic. All of them were suffering from malnutrition or skin disease, and two of them were in critical condition.

Under Korea’s Animal Protection Act, those who kill an animal by failing to feed or water it on purpose are subject to up to three years in prison or up to 30 million won in fines.

The county of Yangpyeong plans to clear the bodies within this week.