Justice maybe, finally, for Green Acre dog owners?

The owners of the dogs that died a horrible suffocating death in June in a crowded Gilbert-area kennel haven't forgotten what happened to their pets.

And the supporters of those owners from all over the country, and beyond, haven't forgotten.

Neither, apparently, have Maricopa County prosecutors.

Word came Wednesday that County Attorney Bill Montgomery has refiled criminal charges of animal cruelty against Todd and MaLeisa Hughes, owners of Green Acre Dog Boarding.

Charges were not refiled against Austin and Logan Flake, the couple that was in charge of the kennel the night that more than 20 dogs died, supposedly after an air-conditioner failed in their enclosure. The Flakes were charged initially, along with the Hughes couple. After those charges were dropped the Flakes filed an $8 million notice of claim against the Maricopa County Sheriff's office.

They deserve exactly … zilch.

On this I agree with John Schill, the attorney working with the pet owners. He said of the Flakes, "They were the ones on the scene. They did nothing. They should have known what to do."

The Hugheses' attorney defiantly said, "Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have done nothing criminal. You can remix the facts all you want, but you can't make something smell good that smelled bad in the first place."

Since the incident first occurred, reader reaction to news about the dog deaths and the investigation has generated a flood of outrage.

Notes like this from reader Johanna Turitto: "They all need prison time without a doubt. They were all criminally negligent and should be convicted as such!"

Or this from reader Mary Ann Rich: "Rot in jail, then burn in hell."

It went on and on.

In a statement on the charges Montgomery said, "I am confident that this process has established the requisite evidentiary basis to support criminal charges against the owners of the facility for allegations of causing the deaths of these beloved animals and for receiving a benefit through fraudulent means."

The big, emotional outpouring from the public causes some people to harp about "misplace priorities," as if people who speak with passion and anger and sorrow for dead dogs care more about the suffering of animals than they do for the suffering of human beings.

No.

Good people care about responsibility, however. They care about suffering. They care about accountability. The tragedy at Green Acre should not have happened.

The charges brought by the county attorney are meant to hold people to account. No one has been proven guilty of anything yet, but at least the owners of the dogs have the satisfaction of knowing that the lives of their beloved animals mattered.

Because they did.

And as I've said before, believing such a thing does not mean I care more about dogs than I do about humans.

Most humans, anyway.