LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The owner of a Las Vegas dog training franchise is facing a felony animal cruelty charge after a 1.5-year-old English Bulldog died of heatstroke inside a company transport van on a triple-digit summer day.
Michael Gordon Martenies, owner of the local “Sit Means Sit Dog Training” franchise, surrendered to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on August 13, 2026.
He faces one felony count of willful or malicious torture, maiming, or killing of an animal, according to police records.
The arrest follows an investigation into the July 8 death of Taco, an English Bulldog.
Taco’s owner had dropped the dog off for his first mobile training session. The owner informed Martenies that Taco suffered from severe Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), a respiratory condition common in flat-faced breeds, and was scheduled for corrective surgery the following Monday.
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While Taco stayed in an air-conditioned garage during his training, he was loaded into a 2016 White Ford Transit Van for a 25-minute transport back to his home in 102°F heat.
Upon arriving at the Goldberg residence, Taco was found unresponsive, drooling heavily, and with a blue tongue inside a wire crate in the back of the van.
Goldberg told police the rear of the van felt extremely hot. Taco collapsed and stopped breathing shortly after.
Emergency veterinary staff pronounced him dead, and a necropsy later confirmed the cause of death as heatstroke and subsequent multi-system organ failure.
Detectives executing a search warrant on the transport van discovered that while the front air conditioning unit functioned, the roof-mounted climate control unit designated for the rear cargo area where the dogs are kept was completely non-functional.
Investigators also found a black board partially blocking airflow from the front to the back of the vehicle.
Furthermore, City of Las Vegas Animal Protection Services confirmed the van was not inspected or permitted under Martenies’s business license.
Officials stated the vehicle would have failed inspection due to the broken air conditioning and unbolted kennels.
Martenies was also reportedly violating his permit by conducting physical training and boarding at his residential address, which was only licensed as an administrative office.
Martenies admitted to detectives that he was fully aware that flat-faced breeds are highly sensitive to heat and require constant cooling, but approved the transport in the unpermitted van despite knowing Taco’s respiratory issues.
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