Los Angeles DJ Andrew Fedyk paid $10,000 for a four-week board-and-train program for his two Bernese Mountain dogs at a Studio City facility, but one of them, a 2-year-old named Dunkin, was dead within 48 hours of being dropped off. Fedyk is now among several pet owners publicly demanding investigations into what they describe as suspicious dog deaths tied to the same training operation.
A $10,000 Program Ends in Tragedy
Fedyk had enrolled his two dogs in leash and behavior training after recently welcoming a new baby into his home, according to KTLA. Instead, he says Dunkin died inside a vehicle while being transported to a Hollywood boarding facility, a location change Fedyk says he was never informed of ahead of time. He also says the dog was not brought to a veterinarian following the incident. Fedyk stated the trainer had taken the dogs to a park earlier that day before determining it was too hot, per the outlet's report.
Other families have said their dogs also died while under the same Studio City company's care, and more families have since contacted Fedyk to share similar accounts, the station reported. Fedyk's case is not the only one drawing public attention. Social media posts circulating in late August indicate that fashion influencer Madeleine White also lost a dog to heat exhaustion within 48 hours while the pet was under the care of a Studio City dog trainer, with commenters noting that location-tracking AirTags were reportedly disconnected from the pets during the stay.
A Pattern of Local Concern
The allegations echo a case Hoodline covered involving a Tarzana pet sitter in July, when Los Angeles Alliance for Animals president Zohra Fahim called for a criminal investigation after her 2-year-old rescue pit bull, Odin, suffered internal bleeding and hind-leg paralysis while in that sitter's care. Odin was taken to a Studio City emergency vet, and the sitter claimed the dog had been injured after being slammed to the ground. Taken together, the incidents point to a recurring source of anxiety for San Fernando Valley pet owners entrusting animals to independent trainers and sitters.
What California Law Actually Covers
Under California Penal Code § 597.7, confining an animal in an unattended motor vehicle under conditions that endanger its health due to heat or lack of ventilation is illegal, carrying misdemeanor penalties of up to six months in jail if the animal suffers great bodily injury or death. Separately, Penal Code § 597 designates severe animal neglect or failure to protect an animal from extreme weather as a wobbler offense that can be charged as a felony, carrying up to three years in state prison and fines as high as $20,000. Commercial boarding kennels in Los Angeles are also subject to municipal permits, rules, and inspections under Los Angeles Municipal Code Chapter 5, Article 3, enforced through LA Animal Services.
Facilities that house four or more pets fall under the California Pet Boarding Facilities Act, which requires written animal care policies, daily behavioral enrichment, and emergency veterinary care procedures under Health and Safety Code § 122380, with enforcement handled by local animal control and humane officers. Assembly Bill 1901, in effect since January 2023, requires dog trainers to disclose in writing any prior civil judgments tied to their training services or past animal cruelty convictions, according to the American Kennel Club.
A Regulatory Gap for Individual Trainers
Despite those statutes, California does not require state occupational licensing for individual dog trainers, according to the Alliance for Professionalism in Dog Training, leaving voluntary certifications and after-the-fact criminal penal statutes as the primary tools for holding bad actors accountable. The trade group notes that advocacy organizations have pushed for a comprehensive state licensing board to establish mandatory entry standards for the profession, though no such system currently exists. That gap means owners largely have to rely on word of mouth, reviews, and post-incident law enforcement action rather than any pre-vetted credentialing system when choosing who watches their pets.
Whether law enforcement or LA Animal Services has opened a formal cruelty inquiry into the Studio City facility named in Fedyk's account has not been reported. For now, the allegations remain claims from grieving owners pressing for answers about what happened to their dogs in the span of two days.
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