MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (WISH) — Two men face charges for animal neglect after a yearlong investigation of a case from Lake County.

The incident happened in July 2023 when at least nine dogs died after being transported in a box truck when the air conditioning failed.

Two Michigan City men — Michael McHenry, 55, and Jessee Urbaszewski, 44, — face 10 animal neglect charges.

The Humane Society of Hobart Inc. says the dogs were found just before 7:45 p.m. July 27, 2023, in the truck at the Road Ranger convenience store and gas station that’s just southeast of the I-94 interchange for U.S. 6 in the city of Lake Station.

Police say the truck was traveling from  O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to a training facility Michigan, and got stuck in traffic. Temperatures in the Chicago area reached 92 degrees on July 27, 2023, the National Weather Service said.

The driver discovered the dogs were in distress after stopping at the Lake Station, Indiana, police station. The driver began removing the German shepherds from crates, prompting 911 calls. A social media post from the Lake Station Police Department said it believed that “this was not an act of animal cruelty or neglect but a mechanical failure of the AC unit that was being used in the cargo area.”

The Lake County prosecutor in August 2023 asked the Indiana State Police to investigate the case.