In a northwest Indiana courtroom, a man faced allegations of animal cruelty after nine dogs perished, but he was acquitted, according to court records.
Michael McHenry was declared not guilty following a bench trial held on Thursday.
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The case revolved around an incident from the summer of 2023. Investigators reported that McHenry, along with Jessee Urbaszewski, was linked to the tragic event when McHenry’s business, F.M. K9, collected 18 dogs from Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
The dogs were en route to McHenry’s Michigan training center, destined to be trained as security and police dogs.
According to the Indiana State Police, the box truck transporting the dogs became dangerously overheated, leading to the death or euthanasia of nine canines.
Authorities noted that temperatures soared close to 90 degrees on that fateful day.
“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,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said.
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,” Indiana State Police Detective Chris Eagles said.
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.
Urbaszewski is scheduled to go to trial in March.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
