A Buckeye couple isn’t giving up on justice after their dog died while staying at a Valley boarding facility.
Meaghan Pilcher and her husband dropped off their 2-year-old German Shepherd, Zero, and their other dog at the Desert Oasis Farm and Dog Boarding near Estrella Parkway and Elliott Road last month.
“It’s bad enough to leave your dog, you’d like to take them with you,” Pilcher said. “’But you never in a million years would guess anything like this would occur.”
Pilcher said Zero escaped from the facility and was struck by a car – sadly, Zero did not survive the accident.
Since the incident occurred, the family has urged the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the dog’s death. They’ve even created a “Justice For Zero” Facebook page in hopes of rallying the community together to get law enforcement’s attention.
On March 15, the page posted a status beginning with “YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!” The post explained that a woman from MCSO responded to their persistent requests for an investigation and stated that Pilcher needs to “get her stories straight” and that Zero’s death isn’t a case of animal cruelty.
“Regardless of what happened, the dogs never should have been able to get out,” Pilcher said.
However, this week MCSO decided to open up a formal investigation into the death of Zero. According to the administrator on the “Justice For Zero” Facebook page, they’re also looking into the employee who sent the “horrid email” a recent post said.
The couple's lawyer said there are no monetary motives behind this.
"My clients aren't looking for any money here...," the lawyer said. "What we're looking for is a criminal investigation to be done."
