Death of 21 dogs crammed into one un-air-conditioned room at Phoenix-area kennel investigated

ARIZONA -- Court documents released Wednesday give new details in the investigation into the deaths of 21 dogs at a kennel in the Phoenix area.

The owners of Green Acre in Gilbert said the dogs died in June from heat exhaustion after caregivers left for the night.

There was no evidence a dog chewed through a wire that cut the air conditioning in the kennel.

The files include information from the dogs’ owners. Some said they weren’t told the boarding home facility would be out of town or that their dogs would be put in a single room.

They said they were told excuses of why their dogs died, from running away to the A/C being cut off because a dog chewed through a wire.

 

 

Based on the investigation, one vet says they likely died of suffocation because of limited ventilation and the 21 dogs were in a room that was nine feet by 12 feet.

One boarding facility owner told a couple that was in Tucson that one dog was "a digger," so their dogs escaped and that they were searching for them.

That couple made it back to Phoenix and searched for about four hours. When they went back to Green Acre, deputies were on scene as well as other dog owners looking for their dogs.

One of their dogs ended up being dead in the back shed. Two weeks later, they found out the other one had been hit by a car.

No arrests have been made in the case so far. Suspects are: Jesse To Hughes, his wife Malesia Maurine Hughes, Logan Laine Flake (their daughter) and Austin Lane Flake.

Your head is going to explode when you read the documents related to the case.

(Tucson News Now - Jul 17, 2014)

Earlier:

• Families looking for answers after dogs die at Gilbert boarding facility