An air conditioning malfunction at Cookeville’s P.E.T.S LLC caused the death of ten dogs.
The animal transport company lost cooling in a holding area. The dogs received emergency medical care, but 10 dogs suffered from heatstroke resulting in death.
“It was incredibly difficult for us to share this tragic update, but we know that you all care as deeply about these dogs as we do,” an official company statement said. “Again, thank you to for your understanding and support as we work to get through this unbelievable tragedy. We will provide updates as we are able.”
The company said an extensive investigation is ongoing to determine what caused the malfunction and the lack of an alert. All owners and partners with dogs at the facility were notified of the event.
“In our 16 years of operating P.E.T.S. LLC,” the statement said. “We have kept every aspect of our transport cool for our dogs with high-quality professional equipment and we have never had an incident like this.”