Investigative Report Finds Multiple Issues with Borough Animal Control

The Mat-Su Borough has released the investigative report regarding the response of the Animal Control Division in the Caswell Lakes Animal Cruelty Case. The report was conducted by both Richard Payne of the Denali Law Group and an internal investigator, Jason Ortiz, of the Mat-Su Borough.

On April 15th of this year, numerous dead dogs were reported in the Caswell Lakes area. The dogs were determined to have starved to death after being abandoned without food and water.  Mistry Rehder, age 35, was arrested and subsequently indicted on 24 counts of animal cruelty.

Multiple residents had reported their concerns to Officer Joseph Dickenson of Animal Control, as early as January of 2026.  According to the report, Officer Dickenson gave no weight to the expertise of the people who had complained.  No assessment was made of food supply, water accessibility, shelter adequacy or animal condition.

It was determined that Officer Dickenson’s failures were not isolated to him. The report examined the Borough’s policies and procedures with regards to complaints concerning animal welfare.  Payne and Ortiz both identified multiple areas for improvement in training, policy and operational practices.

The Report recommended the removal of Chief Matthew Hardwig of command at Animal Control and recommended relieving Officer Joseph Dickenson of his enforcement duties.  

The complete investigative report can be found on the Borough’s website.

https://ktna.org/content/files/msb-cms-documents-s3-us-west-2-amazonaws-com/animal-control-investigation-report-june-15-2026-i4btiimagkjbnd-bliojlw.xml