Dumpster Puppies
For Immediate Release
November 2, 2012
Contact: Paulette Dean
(434) 799-5306
The Danville Area Humane Society is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for the dumping of seven one week-old puppies on November 1st.
About 10:00 Thursday evening, a man saw two young black males drive up to a dumpster at Cardinal Village. One took a Purina Dog Food bag out of the car and threw it in the dumpster. He was wearing a dark hoodie. Both men laughed as they drove away.
The witness went to the dumpster and looked inside. He found four puppies in the bag and another three puppies had fallen out of the bag. He climbed into the dumpster and rescued them.
The police responded quickly and took the puppies to the shelter. Shelter Manager April Hogan met the officer at the shelter; she bottle-fed the puppies and placed them in towels to warm them up.
The men were driving a gray Impala or Malibu with Virginia license plates.
“Abandonment of animals is cruel; the puppies would probably have died during the night,” said Lynn Shelton, board president and court-appointed humane investigator in Danville.
“Employees have placed the puppies with a nursing mother dog, but foster homes may be needed. We are carefully monitoring them,” said Paulette Dean, director of the humane society and court-appointed humane investigator.
The humane society is grateful for the man who rescued the puppies from the dumpster, as well as the police officer who is investigating.
Anyone with information about the abandonment is urged to contact the Danville Area Humane Society at (434) 799-5306.
Cruelty to animals in Virginia is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and is punishable by confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.
