ATLANTA — Pet owners are looking for more accountability and transparency after they say their dogs were lost or died at Georgia kennels.
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Channel 2 Action News investigator Sophia Choi looked into kennel complaints after pet owners told her the state has no easy way for other families to see a kennel’s track record.
When Cody Floyd’s dog Arabella died, it tore a huge hole in the fabric of his life.
“It put me in a depression,” Floyd said.
He dropped her off at Hanson Hill Farms in Adairsville in Bartow County on August 20 when he took a job out of town.
The next day, he got a call from an emergency vet.
“Your pug has heat stroke; she is brain dead, she’s having seizures,” Floyd said. “The vet told me it’s one of the worst cases of heat stroke that he’s seen.”
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He had to put her down over the phone. Afterward, Floyd filed a complaint with the state Department of Agriculture, prompting an inspection.
The owner of Hanson Hill Farms declined to meet or comment on this story, but on Facebook, they said they were “devastated over the loss of Bella,” and they were “happy to report the GDA concluded they passed with zero infractions.”
Officials with the state Department of Agriculture said Georgia’s Animal Protection Act mandates those inspections and defines the scope of what they entail.
“We take a look at that with our law enforcement and with our legal team to determine: are we looking at criminal issues?” Jason Smith, a deputy manager with the GDA, said. “Are we looking at criminal violations, or are we looking at a regulatory situation?”
The GDA coordinates with local law enforcement and animal control units to determine the severity of the situation and take the appropriate action when it’s needed.
Floyd said he knows accidents happen, but he wishes the state would do more to let pet owners know about them.
“I should be able to go to their website or their Facebook page,” Floyd said. “There should be a link from the state of their track record, whether it’s positive or negative.”
After losing Bella, Floyd joined a Facebook group called Eddie’s Legacy, which educates dog owners on kennel safety.
“Making a complaint with the Georgia Department of Ag equals nothing,” Rebekah Little, the organizer behind the group, said.
Little started the group after losing her dog Eddie while he was at a kennel in 2024.
She said the kennel owner, Heather Ralston, called her family while they were on vacation and said Eddie was lost.
“He was the gentlest giant,” Little said. “I kept saying, please just go find my dog. Please go find my dog.”
She never found him, but she did find through a series of open records requests that Ralston had operated without a license, bouncing between facilities and racking up inspections and complaints throughout 2024.
“There’s so many records on her,” Little said. “And they just issued her another license.”
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According to inspection records and a list of active licenses from the GDA website, a facility tied to Ralston was issued an active license on Sept. 16 of this year.
Smith with the GDA told Channel 2 Investigates that licenses are tied to the facility, not the owners who run them.
And almost anyone can start a kennel.
“For things like dog groomers and kennels that open up that kind of stuff, there’s no certification required,” Smith said. “Is it something that should be looked into? I think so.”
The same list that showed the facility tied to Ralston also shows over 1,500 other licensed facilities and their designated contacts across the state. Smith told Channel 2 Action News that their team has just 20 inspectors to cover all of those locations.
The Department of Agriculture said they strive to reach all of those facilities within 12 months, but complaints take priority.
“Somebody’s going to get to that complaint within 24 to 48 hours to investigate whether there’s been a violation of our rules,” Smith said.
The state can fine a kennel up to $1,000 per violation, and while the GDA has a law enforcement division, it’s often up to the local law enforcement to pursue criminal charges.
Floyd says he’s too traumatized to trust another kennel.
“I’m not going to Vegas on work trips anymore,” Floyd said.
But he advises that people who need to use one do their research by checking out the facility, asking questions and pulling records.
Smith had similar advice, saying consumers should do an open records request on not just the facility, but the owners behind them to get a full picture.
“Do your online research as well,” Smith said. “People are gonna put reports out there on social media about places, especially if they’ve had encounters where it’s been difficult or challenging.”
But Floyd still wishes there was something more official.
“Don’t trust the reviews on Google; people solicit reviews,” Floyd said. “Open records is our only hope.”
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