The police have found the rotting carcasses of 118 pet dogs wrapped in bin bags in the back of a pickup truck outside a pet crematorium that was illegally sending them to a landfill because it was over capacity.

The incident took place in Ciudad Juarez, a city on the Rio Grande River in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, just across from the Texan city of El Paso.

The police arrested a worker from the Eternal Pet crematorium, named as Francisco Javier OL, 29, the owner of the pickup truck, after locals called the authorities over a putrid smell coming from the rotting corpses.

But Francisco Javier told cops his truck had broken down, which is why he was unable to dispose of the corpses. He said that he had not been having a very good weekend, after the corpses piled up, his truck broke down, his wife left him and then the police arrested him.

The carcasses belonged to dogs of different sizes and races and were reportedly in an advanced state of decomposition.

Local residents had raised the alarm after the putrid odour coming from the pet crematorium became too much to bear.

Police officers located the vehicle, reportedly a grey Ford F-150 pickup truck, and made the gruesome discovery.

They also reportedly caught Francisco Javier red-handed beating three live dogs and arrested him after also finding two dog carcasses in a freezer.

The live dogs have since been handed over to the Department of Rescue and Adoption of Pets.

Prosecutor Carlos Manuel Salas said that Francisco Javier will soon be released as he did not commit any crimes and did not commit animal cruelty, despite the police reportedly catching him red-handed apparently beating the dogs.

Salas said that Francisco Javier is an employee of the Eternal Pet crematorium, a business that offers pet cremation, owned by Ismael Salazar Meraz.

Francisco Javier reportedly said in his statement to the police that the business received between 40 and 50 pets daily, but only had the capacity to cremate 20 or 30 of them, which is what led to the carcasses piling up in the pickup truck.

The rest of the pets were thrown away in landfill sites whenever they had reached about 100 uncremated bodies, he said.

Salas said that although Francisco Javier will be released, the investigation against the business would continue, as “there are still many things that the owner must clarify.”

The pet crematorium has since reportedly been closed down by the authorities pending the outcome of the investigation.