20 Dogs Die in Ariz. Heat after Kennel’s AC Fails
Twenty dogs died at an Arizona dog boarding facility that a US senator’s son was minding after the air conditioning failed.
The Sheriff’s deputies told CNN they found 20 dogs piled in a shed on Friday at Green Acres Dog Boarding facility in Gilbert, Ariz. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said one of the dogs apparently “chewed through the electrical wiring’’ that was connected to the AC.
Senator Jeff Flake offered a public apology over the incident, in part because it was his son, Austin, who was minding the kennel when the incident took place.
The Sheriff’s office told CNN that Green Acres is “owned and operated by two of Flake’s relatives, Jesse and Maleisa Hughes.’’
The couple was out of town, leaving Austin Flake to dogsit, when a dog apparently chewed through the electric wiring connected to the air conditioning, said Arpaio to CNN.
Though Arpaio called the incident “an accident,’’ he told CNN he was unsatisfied with the kennel owners’ story.
Maleisa Hughes told CNN Austin Flake and his wife slept in the east end of the house and that the kennel was located at the west end. Since the two sides of the house have separate AC units, the Flakes could not feel the heat, she said.
By the time the Flakes discovered the dogs at 5:30 a.m., the temperature was over 100 degrees, Hughes said.
Arpaio’s office is still investigating the case, CNN reports, because he said he found some aspects of the kennel owners’ story “unreasonable.’’
Additionally, Arpaio told CNN that pet owners were allegedly “mislead’’ about the number of dogs staying at the kennel.
The Hughes have not been arrested or charged, according to CNN.
The Maricopa Sheriff’s office and Green Acre Dog Boarding facility could not be reached immediately for comment.
An online petition created by Rocklin, CA, resident Ann Collins on change.org is asking Arpaio to investigate the Green Acre incident further and to “prosecute those involved to the fullest extent of the law.’’ The petition had 9,122 supporters as of Tuesday, June 24.
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