Arlington dog trainer under fire after two pets die in his care, district attorney reviewing both cases (2024)

ARLINGTON, Texas — 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.

The deaths were brought to the office's attention by Masera and Emeka Ndukwe, who filed a formal complaint about Alan Brown, the owner of 'K-9 Direction' when their 3-year-old Bernadoodle named 'Brooklyn' died in his care as the couple celebrated their honeymoon overseas in June.

The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office doesn't comment on potential criminal cases. It could be presented to a grand jury if it finds merit in either case.

WFAA has repeatedly contacted Alan Brown for comment -- he has responded via phone with 'no comment' each time.

A honeymoon cut short

The Ndukwes had been planning a multi-week trip to Europe for months after getting married in September.

The only issue? Leaving their adorable dog Brookyln with someone while they enjoy their honeymoon.

The Bernadoodle was incredibly special to the couple. While visiting there once, the pair fell in love with a Bernese Mountain dog they spotted in New York City.

They settled on the Bernadoodle during the pandemic while spending much of their time at home--settling on the name 'Brooklyn.'

"The three of us went through it all together," Emeka said. "It's difficult to even have this conversation without him being here."

"He was our pandemic baby," Masera said. "I had surgery earlier this year, and Brooklyn was by my side. We had a lot of different life changes, so we waited an entire year to go on our honeymoon."

"We went to drop him off and never thought we wouldn't get our dog back again."

Masera found Brown's services through social media and was under the impression that while she and Emeka were on their honeymoon, Brooklyn would stay with him in his home and receive remedial training.

Masera told WFAA she didn't want to board Brooklyn at a facility.

"He had some anxieties and barked a bit and was also afraid of men, so we wanted to work on that," Masera said.

But the couple decided to pull Brooklyn out of Brown's care days into their honeymoon because they weren't getting updates or photos about how he was doing.

"He mentioned at one point that Brooklyn was doing well in training, but he ghosted us for a week. We thought maybe he was just a bad communicator, and we just wanted to get Brooklyn out," Emeka said.

The couple began facilitating someone to pick up Brooklyn, and when they finally got in touch with Brown, he revealed that the dog had been dead for days.

"His response was -- 'I haven't communicated with you Because Brooklyn died on Wednesday,'" Emeka said.

The couple says they were livid and began planning a trip home. They had a mountain of questions. One at the top of their list: 'Why weren't they called sooner?'

In a text message provided to WFAA, Brown replied that he didn't reach out sooner to "…reserve as much of your honeymoon & Paris memories as possible for future anniversaries."

To this day, the Ndukwes say they haven't been given Brooklyn's collar or leash. Brooklyn was cremated after a necropsy was completed, and the couple will pick up his remains next weekend.

"I still have the biggest hole in my heart because Brooklyn is not here," Masera said.

"He was the soundtrack of our life," Emeka added. "The silence of our house, his routine, it's all changed because of what happened."

A frantic call to the vet

A written report from the Creekside Pet Care Center in Keller explains what happened the day Brooklyn died to a certain extent.

A lead technician wrote that Brown called the clinic at about 5:15 p.m. on June 25, asking to speak with him. The technician said Brown was panicking, asking how to do chest compressions on a dog.

The lead technician wrote that he explained how to Brown and told him to bring the dog in immediately. Brown said he would try another closer clinic, per the report.

At about 12:20 a.m., roughly seven hours later, Brown brought a deceased Brooklyn into the Creekside Pet Care Center. Brown reported that Brooklyn was already declared dead by the other clinic he took him to.

The lead technician wrote that Brown told him Brooklyn was in a kennel in his van during a training class in the heat of the day -- he added that the A/C was running but that Brooklyn was panting in the back. The technician said Brown told him he turned on an auxiliary A/C mounted to the roof for additional cooling, thinking Brooklyn was hot.

When Brown returned to the van after the class, Brooklyn was unresponsive.

The technician wrote that Brown told him he did CPR on Brooklyn but that he wound up dying. Brown said he brought Brooklyn to the Creekside Pet Care Center for cold storage until he could contact the Ndukwes.

A manager said cold storage would taint a necropsy and that it shouldn't be done for 24 hours, giving the Ndukwes a chance to order one.

As stated earlier, Brown admitted he didn't contact the Ndukwes about Brooklyn until several days after he died.

After reading the report from the vet, the Ndukwes said it was roughly a week before they learned what happened to their dog.

Brooklyn was placed in cold storage, and the window for a necropsy had closed.

Regardless, the Ndukwes still ordered a necropsy. It found that Brooklyn was a healthy dog, but the cause of death was inconclusive.

It also found that Brooklyn had lost roughly 12 pounds since being in the care of Brown, compared to old vet records.

"We left him in this man's care, and then he died," Masera 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."

Booster

While reviewing the Ndukwes case, WFAA learned of another family who had a pet die while it was in the care of K-9 Direction.

Trent Robinson, a Fort Worth Firefighter, told WFAA that he left his family's one-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. He said multiple times that it was hot and humid that day. The heat index was around 106 degrees when I looked," Robinson said.

"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.

Robinson told a similar story to WFAA -- 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.

Again, Brown refused repeatedly to explain his side of the story. Robinson 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."

Getting the story out

After sharing Brooklyn's story on Facebook, Masera and Emeka 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

"I'm hopeful that everyone knows who Alan Brown is -- that they know what K-9 Direction is -- and that you should never leave your dog with them," Emeka added.

Robinson echoed something similar.

"Alan Brown does not take care of dogs," Robinson said.