Yvette Giovanni ran A Time Four Paws, a dog boarding business in Halfmoon, New York, where families paid to leave their pets in her care. In July 2025, a French bulldog named Gus died there of heat stroke. Prosecutors say Gus and other dogs were kept in temperatures between 90 and 100 degrees, with limited access to water, at a facility with no state license and no outside inspections required to operate.

Giovanni is now on trial for animal cruelty and abuse. Police body camera footage played in court reportedly captured her acknowledging those conditions directly to an officer. Her defense says Gus's death was a mistake, and that she isn't a veterinarian and didn't realize how sick he was. But a business that takes money to keep animals safe should already know that 90-plus degree heat and limited water are dangerous, no medical degree required.

Right now, New York has no statewide licensing or inspection system for commercial dog boarding facilities like this one. Anyone can open one. No health check, no heat-safety standard, no outside eye ever has to walk through the door. Gus paid for that gap with his life, and until it closes, every dog dropped off at a boarding facility is trusting a stranger's word alone.

We're calling on New York state lawmakers to require licensing, regular inspections, and enforceable heat-safety standards for every commercial dog boarding facility in the state, and on the court to hold Yvette Giovanni fully accountable for Gus's death.

Sign the petition to demand real oversight for dog boarding facilities in New York, so no other family loses a pet to conditions no one was ever required to check.