Puppy dumping is caught on video
Images of a woman tossing a bag of seven days-old dogs in trash bin lead to her arrest.
A woman seen on video dumping a plastic bag filled with puppies in a Coachella trash bin on a day when temperatures were in the 90s was arrested Monday on suspicion of animal cruelty.
A man rummaging through a trash bin behind a Napa Auto Parts store on Grapefruit Boulevard found the clear bag just after 1 p.m. Thursday and brought it into the business, according to Riverside County Department of Animal Services. The bag contained seven puppies, believed to be terrier mixes, which were about 3 days old, authorities said.
Surveillance video released by authorities shows a woman in a tank top and short skirt pulling up behind the store in a white Jeep Wrangler. Carrying the bag in one hand, she opens the lid of a receptacle used for recycling, peers inside and then closes it.
She then tossed the bag atop an open, full trash bin next to it and drove away, authorities said.
Afternoon temperatures in Coachella that day were in the mid-90s, according to the National Weather Service.
“There is no excuse for dumping puppies,” Riverside County Animal Services Cmdr. Chris Mayer said in a statement. “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.”
Mayer said Animal Services officers are working with sheriff’s investigators to build “a strong animal cruelty case.”
John Welsh, a spokesman for Animal Services, told The Times that authorities have “full knowledge” of who the woman is. Authorities secured an arrest warrant for Deborah Sue Culwell, 54, of Coachella about 4 p.m., he said.
Mayer arrested her about 5:30 p.m. on suspicion of seven felony charges of animal cruelty and abandonment.
Welsh said she has a history of criminal offenses, including embezzlement, and vehicle code violations.
Mayer said Animal Services officers are working with sheriff’s investigators to build “a strong animal cruelty case.”
The man who brought the puppies inside the store is believed to be a transient and was identified only as John, Welsh said. He found the puppies just a few minutes after they were discarded, Welsh said.
“They would have been on their way to the dump,” said Welsh, adding that the puppies probably would have quickly suffocated if the man hadn’t found them. “It’s a shock that these pups survived.”
Welsh said the bag containing the puppies was tied shut, and the animals had no ventilation.
He said he was personally horrified that the bag was clear and that the woman would have been able to see the puppies before discarding them.
The pups were taken to a Riverside County Animal Services campus, where they were cared for by veterinarians. The county partnered with MeoowzResQ, an organization in Orange that specializes in cat rescue. MeoowzResQ agreed to foster and bottle-feed the puppies, authorities said.
Welsh said it’s difficult for an animal that young to survive bottle-feeding and that if the animals die, the woman is at fault.