Local PD’s K-9 Deaths Scandal to Draw PETA Rally, Demand for Independent Investigation, Prosecutions

For Immediate Release:
August 21, 2023

Contact:
Brittney Williams 202-483-7382

Carrying signs reading, “Dogs Left for DEAD in Extreme HEAT” and “Independent Investigation NOW!” PETA supporters will converge outside City Hall on Wednesday to demand justice for the nearly 20 dogs who suffered heat exhaustion while being transported inside an unventilated box truck on July 27—eight of whom died in agony.

When:    Wednesday, August 23, 12 noon

Where:    Outside Lake Station City Hall, 1969 Central Ave., Lake Station

The dogs were reportedly headed to a K-9 training facility in Berrien Center, Michigan, and the driver sat in traffic in 91-degree heat for hours. According to reports, when he finally pulled over, several dogs were already dead—and although representatives of the Humane Society of Hobart were on the scene almost immediately, the Lake Station Police Department blocked them from assisting the distressed dogs, forcing rescuers who had access to multiple air-conditioned vehicles to stand by as more dogs died. The police then allowed the driver to leave the scene with both deceased and live dogs unsecured in the open back of the truck. PETA has discovered that Lake Station Police Chief James Richardson apparently had an existing relationship with the owner and operator of the company that was transporting the dogs, Mike McHenry of FMK9.

“Authorities prevented rescuers from providing urgent care because they were apparently more concerned about a personal relationship than these dogs’ suffering,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling for the Lake Station Police Department, which failed dogs who relied on it for help, to step aside and allow an unbiased third party to investigate this incident.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.

For more information about PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.