When you drop your dog off at a boarding kennel, you trust that someone will feed them, care for them, and keep them safe. At Inner Knowing Canine Connections in Swannanoa, North Carolina, that trust was catastrophically betrayed.

Two dogs starved to death in the facility's care. Investigators found no food in either dog's gastrointestinal tract and evidence of severe dehydration. One dog had been dead for an extended period before anyone acted. Other animals in the kennel suffered severe weight loss from lack of food. When authorities investigated, employees allegedly attempted to conceal evidence of what had happened.

It did not stop there. One employee is accused of striking a dog in the face with a metal bowl, kicking it, and hitting it with her hands while recording the session as a training video to teach other staff how to handle what she described as nonaggressive, docile dogs.

"It's sick. There's no credible training method where you abuse an animal," said Jeri Arledge, the owner of a dog rescue in Marion, North Carolina. "If they didn't know it was wrong, they wouldn't try to conceal evidence."

Four employees now face felony charges. But the deeper problem remains. Pet owners have no guaranteed way to know what standards, if any, apply to the facility watching their animals. Anyone can open a kennel. And at least one of the charged employees may still be operating animal care businesses in other states.

We are calling on the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Josh Stein to require all boarding kennels and animal training facilities to obtain a state license, pass regular unannounced inspections, and permanently bar anyone convicted of animal cruelty from working in or operating an animal care facility.

Your dog cannot tell you what happened when you were gone. They deserve laws that protect them.