Police seized 18 sick animals from a Haverstraw home Wednesday after receiving several complaints about the noise and smell coming from the property.

Officials say there were 300 animals living on 59-year-old Robert Everle?s 1-acre property. According to officials, the animals were living in filth ? but Everle denies that claim, calling himself an animal lover and saying the animals on his property were like his kids.

Police say Everle had sheep, chickens, rabbits, dogs, puppies, kittens, ducks, guinea hens and miscellaneous fowl living on his property with him. They say the animals were living in close quarters and they were stressed, hot and enduring appalling conditions.

?[It was] kind of like a petting zoo gone out of control,? Anthony Deliccari of the Rockland ADA says.

SPCA Peace Officer Marc Kisell says the water bowls found in some of the cages were disgusting and filthy. ?Most of them were filled with algae and some had feces,? he says.

After receiving several complaints about the noise and smell, police say they worked with the SPCA to secure a search warrant for Everle?s property. Along with the animals, officials say they found animal carcasses and books about cockfighting.

Everle, a retired carpenter, says he cared for the animals. He says he bred them, sold them and gave them medication when they were sick. ?The money I spend on feed, the time and the money,? he says. ?They go through 125 gallons of water a day ? don?t tell me I don?t care for them.?

The 18 sick animals are being treated by a local veterinarian who volunteered to help out.

Everle has been charged with two counts of failing to provide sustenance to animals, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison. Additional charges may be pending.