VIDALIA — A Vidalia man was arrested Monday after police found several sickly animals on his property.

Austin Adams, 29, 1621 Camellia St., was arrested on charges of four counts cruelty to animals.

The police were initially called April 10 when a concerned citizen contacted them about possibly malnourished dogs at Adams’ residence, Police Chief Ronnie G. “Tapper” Hendricks said.

When officers went to investigate, they reportedly found four dogs — one mixed breed, one black Labrador and two pit bulls — that were thin, had no food and water and were in bad living conditions, Hendricks said.

“When they asked the subject how often do you feed the dogs, he said twice a day but couldn’t produce any dog food,” Hendricks said.

The animals were transported to a local veterinarian’s office, where the veterinarian said they appeared to be malnourished, Hendricks said.

When running a background check on the suspect, Hendricks said the police found he had warrants out of Arkansas for cruelty to animals, failure to appear and two fraud charges.

The animals are currently being housed by the Vidalia Police Department.

Adams was released on a $2,000 bond Monday.