PHOENIX, AZ – Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for his aggressive stance on animal abuse and neglect, held a press conference on Monday, June 23rd, shortly after meeting with several owners whose dogs died over the weekend at a Gilbert, AZ kennel. In the press conference, the Sheriff reiterated his promise to fully investigate why so many dogs died a needless and horrible death.
Sheriff Arpaio’s deputies responded to a call on Saturday morning, June 21, 2014 at the Green Acres Dog Boarding Facility at 15723 East Appleby Road and found 21 dead dogs – all different breeds, sizes and ages, piled into a shed on the property.
Some owners were there when deputies arrived, all visibly upset as the kennels owners and caretakers were questioned by deputies.
“Owners claim the air conditioning was cut off after a dog chewed through some electrical wiring,” Arpaio says. “But it seems unreasonable that dogs could be healthy at 11PM at night and dead by 5:30am the next morning as the owners suggest. Even the veterinarian I met with today agrees that the timeline given by the owners and caretakers is highly suspect.”

Dogs owners who met with Sheriff Arpaio this week claim they were lied to and misled by the kennel’s owners regarding the number of dogs being cared for there.
“Clearly, this is a situation that demands immediate and thorough investigation and I promise that my office will deliver just that,” Arpaio says.
Jesse and Malesia Hughes who have operated the pet boarding business for two years were out of the state when the dogs died. The animals were being overseen by their relatives, Logan and Austin Flake.
When the Flakes discovered the dogs at 5:30 Friday morning, they attempted to save what animals they could by hosing and icing them down but failed to call for emergency assistance before the dogs died.
It has been reported that the kennel owner waited over 24 hours before notifying the owners of the dogs. More reports of abuse at the kennel are now surfacing at other news outlets.
“There are a lot of questions that both this Sheriff and the dog’s owners have and believe me by the time we are done with this investigation, we’ll have the answers to most, if not all of the questions,” Arpaio says. “If a crime occurred, someone will be held accountable.”
[poll random]
This is rich. Sheriff Arpaio treats his inmates worse then dogs.