A woman has been arrested and is facing felony animal cruelty charges after she was caught on camera allegedly dumping newborn puppies into a garbage bin in Coachella, California.
Seven newborn puppies thrown into a dumpster are are alive and well thanks to a bystander who found them. GoSurveillance cameras caught a woman throwing out seven newborn puppies.
Riverside County Animal Services
The puppies, estimated to be three days old, were wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped in a recycling garbage bin. They would have likely died but a bystander fortunately discovered the puppies and kept the incident from becoming a tragedy.
Riverside County Animal Services
Riverside County Animal Services said they were contacted by an employee with a Napa Auto Parts store after a passerby heard the puppies and noticed the bag in the trash. They arrived to find seven puppies and upon reviewing surveillance video saw a woman in a Jeep pull up on Thursday, April 18, 2019 just after 1 pm. She was carrying a plastic bag and dropped the plastic bag next to a trash dumpster and rove away.
Riverside County Animal Services
The man found the puppies an hour later. Riverside County Animal Services wrote in a press release:
“Shortly afterward, a passerby, named John, rummaged through the trash and noticed the bag and brought it into the Napa store. If not for the Good Samaritan’s actions, the puppies may not have survived much longer. The mid-day temperatures in Coachella on Thursday were in the mid-90s range.”
“The Good Samaritan played a major role in saving theses puppies’ lives,” Commander Chris Mayer said. “His actions were humane and heroic.”
Riverside County Animal Services posted the video in hopes of getting leads as to the identity of the woman.
“There is no excuse for dumping puppies,” Mayer said. “Especially in today’s age when we or other shelters would be willing to get these animals to foster parents or rescue partners. This was a shameful act.”
A few days later, the animal shelter shared the news and video of a suspect being arrested outside her home on Monday, April 22, 2019.
The woman has been identified by news outlets as 54-year-old Deborah Sue Culwell. Riverside County, animal services has also confiscated 38 dogs from her home. The dogs were in a home in a “state of direpair”. They appeared overall healthy but were aggressive or fearful.
None of the dogs are available for adoption presently. The puppies are being cared for by MeoowzResQ, a Southern California-based organization specializing in kitten and cat rescue and fostering. They are taking care of bottle feeding duties and say that the puppies terrier mixes and are thriving.
Riverside County Animal Services
Animal Services’ veterinary team members cared for the puppies and lined up a rescue group partner organization to take over bottle feeding duties and will be made available for adoption once they are old enough.
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