Madeleine “Maddie” White Fedyk and her husband Andrew Fedyk were on vacation when they received the devastating news their dog Dunkin had died while in a boarding facility. Dunkin, a healthy two-year-old Bernese mountain dog, died of heat exhaustion.
Shocked, Maddie took to social media.
“Andrew and I will not rest until this business is closed for good and this man never touches someone’s dog again,” White Fedyk said in a video shared to her TikTok.
The post took off, garnering tens of millions of views. Maddie, a social media influencer and model, has over 5 million followers on TikTok, and over 2 million followers on Instagram. Her husband Andrew is a prominent DJ who is part of the group Loud Luxury. But it was their heartbreaking story that grabbed the attention of one member of Congress.
“I think that they just genuinely were heartbroken over what they went through, and they just shared their story, and you know a lot of people can relate to it,” said Rep. James Gallagher, R-Calif.
“We have a bond with our animals, you know, and I think people overwhelmingly feel that, know that, but the law hasn’t really necessarily evolved accordingly,” he added. “You know, it still kind of more traditionally treats our dogs, our cats as property.”
Gallagher introduced Dunkin’s Law — named in honor of the Fedyk’s dog — to strengthen federal protections for companion animals to give families a better legal pathway to hold negligent facilities accountable.
“Nothing will ever bring Dunkin back, but knowing that his story could help protect other animals and spare another family from experiencing this pain means everything to us,” the Fedyks said in a statement.
Current law does not allow much to be done.
“The value of the dog can be recovered, but obviously the value of the dog is more than just what you paid for the dog initially,” Gallagher said. “It’s obviously the relationship that you have.”
His legislation would amend the Animal Welfare Act by defining these pets as “sentient beings” and expanding the definition of “damages suffered” to include the pet’s “pain and suffering” as well as “the owner’s emotional distress.”
Gallagher believes Dunkin’s Law could get broad bipartisan support in Congress.
“So many of us, you know, have dogs, have cats, companion animals that we love so much, right? And you put yourself in that position, like, man, what if that happened to me?” Gallagher said.
Gallagher lost his re-election bid and will not be returning to Congress in January. Even though the bill is not likely to pass this year, Gallagher says introducing it at least gets the word out to build support.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
