DAKOTA DUNES -- A Dakota Dunes man is facing a class 1 misdemeanor charge of animal neglect after he allegedly left a young dog under his care in a van for 12 hours, where it suffered a heatstroke and later died.
According to an affidavit filed in Union County, on June 9 a woman reported to the Union County Sheriff's Department that her dog, a roughly 11-month-old Bouvier Des Flandres called "Ned," had died in the care of Christopher Railsback, 49.
The woman, Elisabeth Maurus, a resident of Northeast Iowa, had dropped her dog off with Railsback June 6 for what was to be a three-week boarding and training program at Midwest Dog Training.
Maurus was going on a work trip and found Midwest Dog Training online, figuring the combination of training and kenneling would be beneficial. Seeing the generally good reviews and speaking with Railsback on the phone, she felt comfortable leaving the dog with him.
"They have a really good website, you can't really find anything bad about them on the internet," Maurus said in an interview with the Journal.
The morning of June 7, when Maurus called Midwest Dog Training to check on Ned, she was told by another man that Railsback had not been seen that day. That afternoon, Railsback called and informed her that Ned was "not doing good."
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Railsback told a North Sioux City Police officer that he returned home around 1 a.m. the night of June 6 and had left Ned in the minivan overnight. He reported that he had taken a sleeping medication and had overslept, leaving the dog in the hot van until shortly after 1 p.m. June 7.
Ned was comatose, with a high respiration and pulse rate, by the time anther man took him to a veterinarian that afternoon. Despite the veterinarian's efforts to stabilize the dog, he went into cardiac arrest about half an hour after he arrived. Efforts to revive Ned were unsuccessful.
The official cause of his death was a heatstroke. Maurus said Ned had been in generally good health prior to his death.
Midwest Dog Training has since reported itself permanently closed on Google.
If convicted, Railsback could face up to a year in jail a $2,000 fine.
Maurus, meanwhile, said she has been acquainting herself with a sister of Ned's, and may adopt the dog. She took in Ned shortly after the death of her previous dog, who lived to be 12.
"It's kind of a healing thing to get to spend time with her," Maurus said of the sister dog.
First courthouse

The first Woodbury County Courthouse, 1878-1918, stood at the southeast corner of Sixth and Pierce streets.
Courthouse construction

The Woodbury County Courthouse is under construction in this photo from Sept. 19, 1916.
Courthouse construction

The Woodbury County Courthouse is shown under construction in this photo from May 24, 1917. The courthouse opened the following year.
Courthouse drawing

An early drawing of the Woodbury County Courthouse is shown.
Courthouse dome

The Woodbury County Courthouse dome is under construction in this photo from Oct. 17, 1917.
'Western Architect'

A page from "The Western Architect" publication from February 1921, showing the interior of the Woodbury County Courthouse.
'Western Architect'

A page from "The Western Architect" publication from February 1921, showing the interior of the Woodbury County Courthouse.
Courthouse and City Hall

Traffic drives on Douglas Street in front of the Woodbury County Courthouse, left, and Sioux City Hall in about 1965. City Hall was found to be tipping in January 1965.
Woodbury County Courthouse

The current Woodbury County courthouse.
Courthouse interior

A view from inside the Woodbury County Courthouse.
Light fixtures

Light fixtures inside the Woodbury County Courthouse.
Courthouse mail chute

The 90-year-old mail chute in the Woodbury County Courthouse was shut down in 2011 because it didn't meet U.S. Postal Service requirements for public access.
Courthouse security

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew is shown in the county courthouse in a April 2015 photo.
Courthouse elevators

The elevators of the Woodbury County Courthouse, which date to 1918, are shown.
Courtroom repairs

Kenny Schmitz, Woodbury County Building Services director, climbs over a bench in Courtroom 203 on the second-floor of the county courthouse in July 2016. The courtroom was closed while workers repaired a slab of marble that fell out of a window surround and almost caused stained glass windows to fall out of their frames.
Courthouse terra cotta

Straps and a board hold up a failing terra cotta tile at the Woodbury County Courthouse in 2016.
Courthouse terra cotta

Kenny Schmitz, Woodbury County Building Services Director, raises a lift to a loose piece of terra cotta at the Woodbury County Courthouse in 2016. Terra cotta tiles on the south side of the building's exterior were in immediate danger of falling down to the ground and there several additional areas where cement grout was missing on the decorative tiles.
Election Watch Party

People attend an election watch party at the Woodbury County Courthouse in November 2016.
Courthouse repair

Ceiling tiles at the Woodbury County Courthouse, shown in December 2016, were in need of repairs.
Courthouse architecture

The Woodbury County Courthouse features sculptural work by Alfonso Iannelli, an influential Italian-American modernist artist who briefly worked with Frank Lloyd Wright.
Courthouse architecture

Two buffalo head sculptures can be seen on the backside of the Woodbury County Courthouse, which opened in 1918. The building is an example of Prairie School architecture.
Courthouse exterior

The Woodbury County Courthouse, which opened in March 1918 at 620 Douglas St., houses courtrooms and most county departments.