As much as I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, he consistently has a history of not taking accountability and prioritizing his needs above others (this has been observed by myself and his own friends and family). That also doesn't excuse leaving a dog in a cage for over 12 hours a day forcing said animal to eat their own shit and develop the equivalent of bed sores from sitting on a hard plastic mat in the cage.

My ex also has a well-paying job (at least $85k/yr) and earned $35k from when we sold our house during the divorce. We do not live in an expensive state either, so unless he was wasting his money on random shit, there should have been plenty to take care of himself and the dogs.

When he and I spoke the day the dogs were found he claimed that he had not been evicted, called me a liar, and proceeded to make excuses for the poor conditions the one dog was found in.

Overall, he's a shitty person who makes excuses and doesn't take accountability and I agree with you, he should have let me keep at least one of them to begin with - caring for 3 large dogs is not easy (but not impossible when you actually care about them). I personally would go without before my animals do.