Tragic Accident Or Neglect? 17 Dogs Found Dead In Green Acre Kennel Pet Boarding Facility

In an unfortunate accident in Gilbert, Arizona, as many as seventeen dogs were found dead inside a pet boarding service, Green Acre Kennel after one of the dogs allegedly chewed through an air-conditioning power cord, causing it to shut down. According to USA Today, the dogs have died of heat exhaustion after the air conditioner went out. The Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office has termed the incident a tragic accident.

The incident seems to have happened between 11 pm (Thursday) and 5:30 am on Friday. According to AZ Central, the dogs were fine when the workers at Green Acre Kennel checked on them at around 11:30 pm on Thursday. When they returned at around 5:30 am the next day, they found many of the dogs already dead or on the verge of dying. According to Chris Hegstrom, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, the employees immediately tried to rescue many of the dogs by bringing them out, spraying on them with water in an attempt to cool their bodies down. For 17 dogs, the efforts came in a little too late. The employees then took the bodies of the dead dogs and piled them all inside a shed. The owners of Green Acre Kennel were away in Florida when this incident happened. They returned and started calling up the owners of the dog and asked them to come to the facility. Some dog owners claim that they were not told of the tragedy initially and were simply told that their pets had escaped.

No charges have been filed against the Green Acre Kennel yet. Their explanation also seem to have not found to have gone well with many of the owners. Animal care authorities said that they are still on with investigations in order to ascertain the actual cause of this incident and that it is too early to arrive at snap judgments. However they did say that the organizations explanation for the dog deaths did sound a bit odd.

The incident at Green Acre Kennel has caused some activists to call for the need of regulations and certification for organizations that operate a pet-boarding facility. According to Maricopa County Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Melissa Gable, dog owners should always get referrals from veterinarians before choosing an animal boarding facility. They should also make sure that the facility has a staff on duty for all the 24 hours so that an incident of this nature could never happen.

Melissa has termed the tragedy a heartbreaking situation because many of the dogs who have died were like family members to their owners.

“You go away thinking that your animal is safe and you’ve entrusted these people to care for a member of your family and then to find out that this tragedy has happened. I’m sure the families are devastate,” Gable told the AZ Central.

Do you think the Green Acre Kennel workers and owner should be answerable to the loss of these pets?

[Image via Patrick Breen/ The Arizona Republic]]