By Skye Crawford
Morgan Glenn parted from her dogs for the first time in nearly two years this spring when she went on a 10-day trip to visit family in Europe. Since they could not come with her, she boarded her pets at a familiar place — Inner Knowing Canine Connections in Swannanoa.
Glenn, a 32-year-old ceramicist in Hendersonville, found the business in 2023 and said she researched them thoroughly. She even made a trip to the facility, met the owner and toured the property.
When Glenn said goodbye to her huskies Pneuma and Melo there in mid-April, that would be the last time she saw them alive.
On May 7, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, four women were arrested and charged with allegations related to the deaths of Pneuma and Melo, as well as alleged attempts to alter, steal or destroy evidence afterward. Arrest warrants allege the dogs died from starvation.
The four charged are:
- Business owner Tiffany Dawn Jourdain accused of altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence, felony conspiracy, animal cruelty and instigating cruelty to animals.
- Business manager Brianne Michelle Hunt accused of altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence and felony conspiracy.
- Diana Hope Hall accused of altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence and felony conspiracy.
- Lillian Nichole Sparks accused of altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence, felony conspiracy, two counts of killing an animal by starvation and five counts of cruelty to animals.
The deaths of Pneuma and Melo illustrate the difficulties of vetting North Carolina kennels and holding pet boarding facilities in the state accountable.
An unexpected phone call
Glenn first took her dogs to Inner Knowing Canine Connections when the business was at a different nearby location. She was drawn to the large, fenced yard and an understanding that Pneuma and Melo could roam freely, a lifestyle her dogs were accustomed to at home.
When the business moved, Glenn toured the new facility. She said both locations were advertised as Jourdain’s personal home.
Glenn, however, was not informed about a shed at the back of the new property where staff allegedly held the dogs when customers were absent. Glenn was told her dogs would be kept inside the house and that Melo would only be crated for short periods of time.
Glenn only learned about the shed after Pneuma and Melo died during their fourth stay with Jourdain earlier this spring. Glenn said her dogs were healthy after previous stays with Jourdain.
“The only issue I’ve ever had was when my ex picked them up from their last stay in 2024,” Glenn said, adding that huskies are known to be “escape artists.” “Whoever was there when my ex got there dropped their leashes…and that was the only misfire that I ever experienced.”
Glenn said she brought the issue to Jourdain’s attention and was pleased when Jourdain added an extra fence on the property. Glenn said she thought she and her animals’ safety were being taken seriously.
On April 19, about halfway through her trip, Glenn said she received a voicemail from Hunt. Pneuma and Melo were being rushed to the emergency vet.
Glenn said veterinarians told her that Pneuma and Melo were dead upon arrival, although they told her they attempted to revive Pneuma.
The necropsy results, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, showed that both dogs had no food in their bodies and were severely dehydrated.
“I did ask for them to pause [the necropsy] so that I could say goodbye and see them one last time, and that’s when they told me, ‘You’re not gonna want to see them how they were brought in to us,’ and I didn’t understand that,” Glenn said.
Glenn said a veterinarian told her Melo’s results were inconclusive due to his state of decomposition. She alleges the staff at Inner Knowing Canine Connections told her Melo was alive and seizing Sunday, April 19. She started to have questions when the veterinarian told her he had been “dead for days.”
Hunt’s arrest warrant alleges she washed Melo’s remains to alter evidence.
‘An obvious gap’
North Carolina boarding kennels must be licensed and inspected annually by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Businesses that exclusively train animals, however, are not required to be licensed by the state.
Inner Knowing Canine Connections offered boarding and training. Heather Overton, assistant director of public affairs for NCDACS, told NC Health News that if a kennel offers boarding only as part of training, then they don’t need a license. But if they have boarding services separate from the training services, they do need a license. According to Overton, Inner Knowing Canine Connections was not licensed.
Overton said the NCDACS animal welfare division is investigating Jourdain’s business. She said the department does not prosecute criminally, that any actions it brings would be through a civil complaint.
Glenn said she is working closely with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office animal crimes unit. Not all sheriff’s departments across the state have dedicated animal crime units, and law enforcement agencies across North Carolina assign animal crimes investigations in varying ways.
Glenn questioned how Inner Knowing Canine Connections boarded pets for as long as they did without a state license.
“That’s an obvious gap in the animal welfare system in our state,” Glenn said.
Currently, two states, Tennessee and Florida, have established animal abuse registries for people convicted of felony animal cruelty. North Carolina does not have one, though legislation proposing an animal abuse registry was introduced in 2019 and in 2021.
As they were investigating, authorities informed Glenn of Jourdain’s alleged involvement with another dog training business in North Carolina. Jourdain also owned a dog training business in Florida; it was dissolved late last month.
‘It’s not that the statute’s not there’
Calley Gerber, founder of Gerber Animal Law Center in Raleigh, said North Carolina has room for improvement in its animal welfare laws, though animal cruelty is explicitly outlawed.
“I try to tell people that it’s a lot more enforcement than the law. The law is there to protect,” Gerber said. “A lot of times, it’s that law enforcement won’t investigate it enough to get what they need to take it to court when those cases aren’t taken forward. It’s not that the statute’s not there.”
Gerber said the language in North Carolina’s animal cruelty laws can nonetheless cause problems for punishing animal cruelty; prosecutors must be able to prove “bad motive” and “unjustifiable” pain and suffering.
“Some of these places that do these board and trains, they withhold food to make the dogs motivated to work for food during training sessions,” Gerber said. “So you’ll see dogs in a board and train for three weeks, and they’ll die.”
In Pneuma and Melo’s case, Gerber believes part of the reason prosecutors were able to charge the way they were is because Melo was allegedly washed days after he died.
“That is good evidence of bad motive,” Gerber said. “You are not rinsing that dog off for any good purpose.”
Proposed legislation
Duke’s Rescue Act (HB 657), introduced last year after lawmakers were alerted to a different animal welfare incident, would establish the minimal standard of care for companion animals, prohibiting practices like outdoor tethering. The bill is named after Duke, according to CBS17, a rescued pitbull who was chained outside next to the remains of another dog that starved to death.
Rep. Stephen Ross (R-Alamance), one of the primary sponsors of the bill, said this legislation would give law enforcement more guidance.
“We’re one of the only states that don’t have any kind of flat line regulations or anything,” Ross said. “So when animal control gets a call, and they go out into these areas…there’s no real teeth through state law. There’s nothing to back them up as far as being able to enforce.”
Duke’s Rescue Act primarily targets pet owners, but Gerber said any legislation offering clearer parameters for law enforcement to act is beneficial.
Ross said getting the bill passed during this legislative session may require piggybacking it onto another bill already being discussed.
“If we’re not successful, then I would expect this renewed version of this bill to be one of the first ones out of the gate in the next session when we come back,” Ross said.
Safety steps pet owners can take
Gerber said she gets more calls in the summer, especially around the Fourth of July when people are traveling.
Overton, from NCDACS, said selecting a kennel that is safe can be difficult with the rise of pet sitting sites such as Rover.
“I think a lot of times when people book through online sites, they just automatically assume that the place is somewhere safe to send your pet,” Overton said. “Rover does ask people if they meet the licensing requirements of their state, but they do not dig into the people that are on their site.”
Facilities’ licenses can be found through the NCDACS license search tool by entering the name of the business. Inspection reports are included under business “attachments.”
Pet owners can find records of disciplinary actions taken against kennels and shelters, including civil penalties and license revocations and suspensions, by visiting the veterinary division’s disciplinary actions webpage.
Overton said it’s important to tour facilities and take note of whether the building smells unpleasant or strongly of cleaner, as both can be red flags.
“The best thing to do is, one, trust your gut,” Overton said. “If you go into a place and you’re not comfortable, something feels off, you always want to trust your gut.”
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