New Indictment Charges Owners Of Green Acre Dog Kennel In Dog Deaths

Published: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - 10:39am
Updated: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 - 5:43pm
(Photo by Steve Shadley - KJZZ)
Dog owners hold photos of their pets that died in June 2014 at Green Acre Dog Boarding.

A new indictment reinstates animal cruelty charges against the owners of a Glibert-area kennel in the June 2014 heat exhaustion deaths of 21 dogs and the injury of four others.

Prosecutors in January dismissed animal cruelty charges against Green Acre Dog Boarding owners Jesse Todd Hughes and Maleisa Maurine Hughes in January.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said at the time that the case originally presented to a grand jury didn't take into account the potential for problems with an air conditioning unit.

Montgomery announced the latest 29-count indictment Wednesday, saying that a review indicates there is enough evidence to support the charges.

In the original case, officials thought dogs chewed through the wires connected to the air conditioning unit causing it to break. But Montgomery said new evidence suggests the air conditioning had stopped working because of a dirty air filter.

“The people most responsible for maintaining that and its operation and also for the sheer number of dogs that were being cared for at that point in time rests with the business owners," he said.

Logan and Austin Flake, the daughter and son-in-law of the owners, were originally charged with animal cruelty. They were taking care of the kennel while the owners were out of town, but aren’t included in the new charges. 

Robert Jarvis, attorney for the Hughes's, said in a statement, "The evidence has not changed. There was a lack of evidentiary support for the charges before and there remains a lack of evidence now. A different presentation of remixed facts does create criminal conduct where there was none. We disagree with the assessment made by the County Attorney's Office and question the motivation behind it." 

The Hughes face a June 3 arraignment on the new indictment.

UPDATED: 5/6/2015 at 5:43 p.m.