The owners of a Gilbert kennel where 23 dogs died of heat exhaustion two years ago received their sentence Friday. Todd and Malesia Hughes previously agreed to serve 23 days in jail when pleading guilty in June to animal cruelty and facilitation to commit fraudulent schemes, in regard to the deaths at the Green Acres kennel in Gilbert.

The judge decided to extend the time on the agreement, giving the couple each 60 days in jail, plus three years of probation and 230 hours of service.

While the justice process has concluded, the pet owners will be affected forever.

Valerie Collins was one of many owners who gave emotional statements at the sentencing. Her voice breaking, she described how she imagined her dogs’ last moments.

“They would have suffocated each other because there was so little space that they would have fallen over on to each other and created a pile of heat, and panting, and mass, and prolonged suffering,” she said. “The way my dogs died was just horrific.”

Heather Wicker said the Hughes' written apology letters to the pet owner, but they were “not acceptable” to her.

“There were a little too late,” Wicker said. “Having been lied to for years and told multiple different stories by the defendants, it’s clear that there’s no guilt for their decision. Only getting caught for treating animals the way they did.”