2 men charged after 9 overheated dogs die during drive from O'Hare to Michigan City: Indiana police
All of the canines were slated to be trained as security and police dogs.
LAKE STATION, Ind. (WLS) -- After more than a yearlong investigation, two men are now charged in connection with an incident that led to the deaths of nine dogs.
"Michael McHenry and Jessee Urbaszewski for 18 counts of cruelties to an animal. It's a class A misdemeanor subject to one year in the Lake County Jail for each of the counts as well as $5,000 fine on each of the counts," said Lake County, Indiana Prosecutor Bernard Carter.
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Indiana State Police provided driver's license photos of the men, who are wanted on warrants.
Investigators say they were involved in the incident last summer as McHenry's company, F.M. K9, picked up 18 dogs at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
The dogs were being driven to his training facility in Michigan. All of the canines were slated to be trained as security and police dogs.
Indiana State Police said nine of the dogs died or had to be euthanized after the cargo area of the box truck carrying the animals become overheated.
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Investigators say temperatures on that day were close to the 90s.
"There was no ventilation, no visible monitoring system inside the cab of the truck to monitor inside the cargo area, no temperature alarm to alert the driver of any dangerous condition in the cargo area and the cargo area was equip with a substandard cooling system to safely transport the dogs," said Indiana State Police Sergeant Glen Fifield.
The truck broke down in Lake Station, Indiana.
At the time, officers who responded to the scene said the driver was using a portable cooling device, which is not designed to replace an air conditioning unit.
"Although it's good for spot cooling, it's not for something this size and degree and not only that, adding on the fact there was no ventilation there's was no air vents in the truck," said Indiana State Police Detective Chris Eagles.
Jenny Webber and her team from the Humane Society of Hobart, Indiana witnessed the heartbreaking scene. And while she says she is glad those accused of creating those deadly conditions are being held accountable, she hopes more will be done to stop this from happening again.
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"We really don't want to see the catastrophic cost that companion animals, working dogs and service dogs pay when brokered mass produced, mass bred," Webber said. "We just really feel like our community can do better."
Officials said the dogs that survived the ordeal were taken to the training facility in Michigan and are now serving at various law enforcement agencies.
Lake County Prosecutors said both surrendered themselves and bond was posted on Tuesday.
PETA released a statement, saying, "Nothing can undo the terrible suffering and agonizing deaths that these dogs endured, but PETA is thankful to the Indiana State Police and the Lake County prosecutor for considering the blatant disregard and corner-cutting callousness shown by the accused and pursuing some measure of justice on behalf of these dogs."
