A chihuahua was found dumped in a garbage bag. Now, authorities in Westchester County are looking for the person behind this "disturbing" act.
According to SPCA of Westchester, in a surveillance video the person was seen driving up to a local animal rescue group in Elmsford on April 28, dumping the dog inside a plastic tub and then driving off.
The dog, now named Rue, was found 17 hours later, reported NBC New York.
"We saw where she had clawed out from the bag and we saw the blood from where she tore her nails off trying to get out," said Jennifer Angelucci, the president and CEO of Paws Crossed Animal Rescue. "It was disturbing and it was hard to stay composed after that," she added.
Rue was taken to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)'s animal care campus for veterinary care. The ones who rescued the dog said that the animal was lucky she had avoided suffocating inside the garbage bag. "This was intentional. This wasn't somebody just abandoning the dog. This was done with purpose," said Ernest Lungaro, director of the Humane Law Enforcement Divison of the SPCA of Westchester.
The dog is expected to recover completely soon and will be available for adoption.
In another incident involving a dog, a Texas man abandoned his pet last month. In connection with the April 19 incident, 31-year-old Manuel Alberto Soto Jr., was arrested by detectives with the Animal Cruelty Investigations Unit in El Paso on Tuesday, reported KWTX.
A witness reported spotting a vehicle reach the intersection of Lomita Dr. and Eastland St. after 3 pm that afternoon, dropping off a Pitbull mix dog in the middle of the road, and driving off. The dog was seen running after the vehicle. The witness chased the vehicle for some time then returned to the intersection where the person found the scared dog whining and waiting for her owner to come back.
In Texas, giving up an animal in a person’s custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person is a Class A Misdemeanor. Soto was charged with Cruelty to Non-Livestock Animals/ Abandonment. He was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on a $2,000 bond.
