More than one year after nine dogs died in Lake Station, the Indiana State Police on Tuesday shared an investigation update, which included misdemeanor charges for two men involved.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter announced at a news conference that his office filed 18 counts of neglect of a vertebrate animal against Michael McHenry, 55, and Jessee Urbaszewski, 44, both of Michigan City.
A warrant is out for both McHenry and Urbaszewski’s arrests, according to online court records.
McHenry and Urbaszewski were the owner and driver, respectively, of the truck transporting the dogs. If convicted on all charges, Carter said each man could spend up to 18 years in the Lake County Jail and be fined up to $90,000.
A state statute prohibits prosecutors from filing charges greater than a misdemeanor in these cases, Carter said Tuesday.
“I’m going to be asking legislators to change the statute and put when death occurs, it’s elevated to a (Level 6 felony),” he added.
Indiana State Police began investigating the dogs’ deaths at the end of August 2023. The incident occurred July 27, 2023, said Sgt. Glen Fifield, the Lowell Post’s public information officer.
The state agency became involved after the Lake Station Police Department received criticism, including from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which called for an unbiased, third-party investigation.
McHenry told Lake Station police that he was the owner of FM K9, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Indiana State Police Detective Christopher Eagles. FM K9 is a Michigan-based company that supplies trained police dogs to law enforcement.
Urbaszewski was allegedly transporting 18 dogs in a box truck from O’Hare International Airport to Berrien Center, Michigan. He was driving for about two hours before stopping at a Lake Station gas station, where he discovered the dogs were suffering heat-related illnesses.
Urbasweski allegedly heard barking that alerted him to the dogs’ distress. When he discovered the dogs, the temperature was about 90 degrees, Fifield said. Three dogs died at the scene, and six were later euthanized.
McHenry told police that he left his Michigan City home to help the dogs, according to the affidavit.
“The Lake Station Police Department believes after speaking with the person(s) involved that this was not an act of animal cruelty or neglect but a mechanical failure of the AC unit that was being used in the cargo area,” said a statement from the Lake Station Police Department, according to Post-Tribune archives.
The truck had an IcyBreeze, a portable air conditioning unit, but Eagles said at Tuesday’s news conference that the unit couldn’t have cooled the box truck to an acceptable temperature.
Eagles said the IcyBreeze was thrown away, so police couldn’t investigate if it had mechanical malfunctions. However, someone who worked for the company told police that the portable unit wasn’t to be used for this purpose.
The state police agency conducted 50 interviews during the investigation, including with officers, emergency medical services and witnesses.
Police simulated the transport, Eagles said, installing IcyBreeze and crates. They also put blankets in the crates to simulate dogs in the cargo area.
Eagles said police tracked the box truck’s temperature and humidity. On the day of the investigation, it was about 10 degrees cooler outside, but the cargo area was still too hot for dogs.
“The IcyBreeze was unable to pull the interior of the box truck to a tolerant level,” he added. “The cargo area never dropped below the outside temperature.”
Nearly two hours into the simulation, the box truck reached almost 90 degrees. Dogs in cages would have created additional heat due to elevated stress levels, Eagles said, adding that the cargo area had no ventilation.
Urbaszewski allegedly failed to adequately check on the dogs during the nearly two-hour drive, Eagles said.
On the day of the incident, staff from the Humane Society of Hobart arrived at the scene and discovered about five dogs had died. Jennifer Webber, the organization’s executive director, told police that several more were having medical issues, including seizing, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the affidavit.
Webber told police that McHenry allegedly denied help transporting the dogs to an animal hospital, which she believes resulted in additional deaths.
“This was a devastating day for everyone who was on scene, for people who read about it,” Webber said at Tuesday’s news conference. “We are a pet-loving community, and we really don’t want to see the catastrophic cost that companion animals pay when they are mass-produced or mass-bred.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
