Willow public meeting presses borough for transparency after 25 dogs died at Caswell kennel

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough held a special assembly meeting in Willow on Aug. 23, 2026, where dozens of residents pressed officials for answers and accountability after 25 dogs were found dead at a Caswell property.

Several mushers and kennel owners urged the borough to make the investigation fully transparent and to overhaul animal-control practices. “We need culpability. We need transparency, and we need to know where the public funds are going to,” said Letty, a musher and kennel owner from Talkeetna, during audience testimony. She and other speakers described repeated calls to animal control beginning in January that they say produced inadequate follow-up.

Manager Brown told the assembly the borough had identified an external investigator, Richard Payne of Denali Law Group, and expected the investigation to begin “early next week.” Brown described Payne as a practicing attorney with experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney and municipal attorney and said he is a resident of the borough. Brown said the borough will provide updates through press releases and social media.

Rescue volunteers described instances when they were told by officers not to feed or interfere with animals during active investigations, even when animals appeared to be in distress. “I was assured that the dogs would be taken care of,” said Chantal Wiley, a rescuer who said she brought straw and food to an on-site visit and was told not to feed the animals. Wiley asked the assembly to consider creating a legal pathway — for example, a Good Samaritan provision — to permit emergency care without compromising evidentiary needs.

Others provided context for how enforcement had worked in the past. “Years ago, there was an officer named Darla… and people surrendered dogs and we found homes,” said Kathleen Frederick, who keeps a licensed kennel. She urged the assembly to determine what supervisors knew and to review how many complaints were logged.

Speakers also cited numbers and legal references. One witness said animal control issued nearly $250,000 in citations last year and that borough animal-control expenditures exceeded $3,000,000; another referenced Alaska statute 29.25.007(b), which allows the borough to impose fines for animal-control violations. Several speakers said they want regular updates on the investigator’s timeline and the public release of results after legal review.

Assemblymember Maxwell Sumner told the crowd he expects to introduce an ordinance at the next regular meeting to form a special review committee comprised of kennel owners, mushers and community members to review administrative policies, the special investigation and to recommend reforms.

The meeting did not include a formal vote on personnel or policy changes; the manager said he would not set a hard timetable for the probe but that progress was underway. The next procedural step announced at the meeting was the continuation of a separate budget public hearing (see related item); Manager Brown and assembly members said they would provide updates on the investigation’s status as they become available.

— Reporting from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough special meeting in Willow.