PHOENIX – Prosecutors plan to dismiss animal cruelty charges against the owners of a suburban Phoenix kennel and two other people charged in the deaths of 21 dogs this summer.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said Monday that the case as initially presented to a grand jury didn't take into account possible issues with an air conditioning unit.
He says prosecutors will confer with investigators and experts before deciding whether to recharge the defendants with animal cruelty.
Montgomery says one count of fraud remains intact against Green Acre Dog Boarding owners Jesse Todd Hughes and Malesia Maurine Hughes.
The couple says the animals died of heat exhaustion June 20 because one dog chewed through the air conditioner's power cord after the caretakers left the Gilbert facility for the night.
