ARLINGTON, Texas — After WFAA reported that the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office is reviewing two cases where family pets died in the care of an Arlington dog trainer over the past two years, a third family has come forward with a similar story.
Fort Worth attorney Evan Malloy told WFAA Tuesday that he has worked with Alan Brown of K-9 Direction -- the trainer under investigation -- with little to no issues since 2009.
But in early June, he told WFAA, things took an uneasy turn.
After dropping off his 6-year-old long-haired German Shepherd "Hershey" and two other family dogs with Brown for seven days, Malloy said he returned from vacation with his wife to learn that Hershey had died in her kennel while with Brown.
After two other families reported that their dogs had died in Brown's care, WFAA asked Brown for comment. He has responded via phone or text with "no comment" each time he's been contacted.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office told WFAA it doesn't comment on potential criminal investigations either. But the cases could be presented to a grand jury if prosecutors find merit.
"We dropped our three German Shepherds off with Alan on June 5, and then spent the rest of the week in Florida," Malloy said. "Never received any text messages from him. Never got any phone calls, anything like that."
Malloy said that when he arrived back in Texas, he arranged to pick his dogs up from Brown's home, where his business is partially based.
"Alan was waiting for me in his driveway, and he told me for the first time that Hershey had died," Malloy said. "He didn't have any theory as to what happened. He told me he had checked on her early morning and found her dead around 7 a.m. [He] very much gave me the impression that she had died peacefully in her sleep."
Malloy said things didn't make sense, though, and claimed Hershey had a complete physical and blood work in the months prior, and that vets had deemed his pet a healthy dog.
"The whole thing was a huge shock to us," Malloy said. "Brown told me after he found Hershey, he took her straight to his vet in Arlington, that she was at the facility there in a freezer, and that they were arranging for a cremation."
Placing a dog in a freezer immediately negates a necropsy and learning the cause of death, experts say. Still, Malloy said he had worked with Brown so long that he didn't thoroughly question what was happening.
But Mallot said things started to become strange when Hershey's vet told him to contact Brown's vet for documentation of what happened.
"They had no records and could not provide any information about what happened," Malloy said. "They also told us that Alan's wife brought our dog in the day after he told me Hershey was dead in his driveway, when we returned from vacation."
Malloy said that means Brown was lying about Hershey's location when he arrived home.
"So, yes, we weren't allowed any necropsy or other examination," Malloy said. "Still, our dog had been cremated, and we didn't know how else to proceed."
Fast forward, then, to WFAA's coverage of similarly painful stories from others who said they lost their pets under Brown's care.
One couple, the Ndukwes, said they dropped off their Bernadoodle named Brooklyn with Brown in late June for several weeks while they honeymooned in Europe -- around the same time Malloy left his dogs with Brown. The Ndukwes told WFAA they had a friend arrange to pick Brooklyn up when Brown failed to update them on how he was doing.
But when arrangements were being made, Brown told the Ndukwes that Brooklyn had died in her kennel while in his van.
A report from a vet clinic said that Brooklyn was in Brown's van with the A/C going in the blistering heat while he was teaching training classes. The report further stated that when, Brown returned to check on her, the dog was unresponsive.
The clinic ultimately kept Brooklyn's remains after Brown tried reviving her, the Ndukwes said.
The Ndukwes said Brown eventually admitted that Brooklyn had been dead for several days -- possibly as many as seven -- when they tried pulling her out of K-9 Direction In a text message provided to WFAA, Brown replied to the Ndukwes that he didn't reach out sooner to "… reserve as much of your honeymoon & Paris memories as possible for future anniversaries."
The couple said they were furious when they found out, and came back to the States immediately.
Because Brown didn't inform them of Brooklyn's sudden death, the couple said they were unable to order a necropsy in time to determine a cause of death.
"We left him in this man's care, and then he died," Masera Ndukwe said. "Not once did we get a phone call from him offering an apology. Not once does he do anything to admit his wrongdoing. He was an integral part of our family, and now he's just gone because of this man's negligence."
After sharing Brooklyn's story on Facebook, Masera and Emeka Ndukwe's story went viral.
They said they hope the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office moves on their case.
"People should not leave their dog in this man's care," Masera said
Trent Robinson's story is more similar to Malloy's.
Robinson, a Fort Worth Firefighter, told WFAA that he left his family's 1-year-old German Shepherd, Booster, with Brown on July 28, 2021, to vacation with his wife.
Robinson told WFAA that he left Booster with Brown for five nights and had paid for dog training classes.
On Aug. 2, the day Robinson returned home, Brown told him that Booster had died that morning.
"He told us that he had him outside too long," Robinson said. "He said multiple times that it was hot and humid that day. The heat index was around 106 degrees when I looked. He told us that Booster was panting heavily in his crate that evening and that he didn't think he ever cooled off."
Robinson said that Brown had Booster placed in cold storage, and that he didn't have a chance to order a necropsy for the cause of death.
Robinson said he reported Brown to the City of Arlington, who found that Brown was operating his business out of his home without proper paperwork. Robinson also revealed to WFAA that he's been interviewed by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office about Booster's death.
"There's no doubt that Alan neglected Booster," Robinson said. "This whole thing could have been avoided if he had just paid attention. To lose Booster was like losing a child."
Malloy, after hearing both stories, said he couldn't believe it.
"Knowing what other families have experienced and seeing all the similarities, it absolutely irks me," Malloy said. "I consider it, frankly, to be a pattern here. Not knowing what happened to Hershey has made it very difficult for my wife and I to get closure on this whole thing. A 6-year-old dog, that's otherwise healthy generally doesn't just die for unknown reasons."
Malloy said he hopes that the Tarrant County District Attorney hears his story, too, along with other dog owners considering K-9 Direction.
"My wife and I are happy to cooperate any way we can," Malloy said.