After an influencer couple went viral in August when their dog died at a boarding facility, a California congressman introduced a bill to hold establishments more accountable when animals are injured or killed.
Republican Rep. James Gallagher introduced the legislation, called “Dunkin’s Law,” named after the couple’s Bernese Mountain Dog. It would expand the state’s animal welfare law “to provide for the protection of companion animals kept or cared for in certain establishments,” according to the bill’s text.
The bill would classify pets as “sentient beings” and allow pet owners who were injured or killed in boarding or similar establishments to bring suit against the establishments to recover damages and other lost expenses.
“There need to be more protections and more stringency when something like this happens,” Gallagher told NBC News on Tuesday.
He said he hoped the legislation would not only protect the families of injured or dead pets, but also ensure that no-kill shelters would not euthanize dogs and cats in “these horrible ways.”
“Making these people actually keep their word, hold them accountable, especially for the kind of abuse and neglect that we’ve seen in these cases,” Gallagher said. “I hope this ultimately results in this not happening, that the disincentives are so strong that these guys really up their game and we don’t have bad actors.”
Two events prompted Gallagher to introduce the bill, he said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The first occurred in June, when Humboldt County sheriff’s investigators discovered mass burial sites at a Northern California animal rescue center. As part of an investigation into the shelter, authorities found the intact remains of 117 dogs, as well as other skeletal remains. Preliminary examinations of some of the dogs’ remains showed traces of gunshot wounds.
“What investigators discovered in Humboldt County is absolutely sickening,” Gallagher said in the release. “People surrendered these animals to a rescue thinking they would be protected, but authorities discovered more than a hundred dead dogs buried on the property.”
The second time was in August, when Loud Luxury DJ Andrew Fedyk and his wife, Madeleine White Fedyk, said their dog Dunkin died at a board and train facility in Los Angeles.
Andrew Fedyk told NBC News in September that they chose to leave their two dogs, Dunkin and Putin, at Smart Dogs Training, which is owned and operated by trainer Jeff Todd, while they went on vacation. He said they found the company’s page online and the flood of positive reviews prompted them to book their dogs, thinking basic leash training could help their already well-behaved pets.
But hours after they arrived in Europe, Fedyk said, Todd called him to tell him Dunkin was dead. Todd allegedly told Fedyk that the two dogs were playing outside during a heat wave and that Dunkin died on the way to a separate boarding facility after “showing signs of heat exhaustion.”
Fedyk said Todd did not take Dunkin to a veterinarian. The poutine was fine and was then returned to the Fedyks.
Fedyk and his wife shared the Dunkin’ story with their nearly 2.5 million social media followers, which he said inspired “a group of people” to tell individual stories about similar experiences.
Andrew Fedyk did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Todd did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. When contacted by NBC News in August, he declined to comment on Dunkin’s case.
In August, Los Angeles Animal Services said it was investigating the incident involving Dunkin. The agency did not immediately respond to an emailed request for more information Tuesday morning.
Los Angeles police declined to provide recent records of 911 calls and police reports related to Todd’s address, citing an open investigation. The police department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment sent Tuesday morning.
“Their heartbreaking story, along with the horrific discovery of more than 100 dead dogs during a rescue in Northern California, reveals a serious gap in how we protect pets and hold accountable the people responsible for their care,” Gallagher said of the Fedyks in an Instagram post announcing the legislation.
Gallagher said Dunkin’s story is why he is introducing this bill, calling it “legislation that would give pet owners a way to seek justice when their animals suffer harm or neglect in covered facilities, while also strengthening accountability for illegal euthanasia at rescues and shelters.”
Gallagher told NBC News on Tuesday that Dunkin’s case was the impetus for passing the legislation, particularly after speaking to Fedyk and Madeleine White Fedyk, who he said expressed frustration and concern about the lack of recourse, even though the couple is not in his district.
“Dunkin represents all these dogs,” Gallagher said. “These are some of the most horrific examples, and we want to make sure this never happens again.” »
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