A janitor found the dog’s body in a trash bag in a bathroom stall
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A woman drowned her white miniature schnauzer in a Florida airport bathroom after being prevented from bringing it on an international flight due to lack of proper documentation, police say.
Then she boarded her flight, authorities said.
The incident occurred on Dec. 16 at Orlando International Airport.
The woman was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of aggravated animal abuse, a third-degree felony. She was released on US$5,000 bail.
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“This act was intentional and resulted in a cruel and unnecessary death of the animal,” said the Orlando Police Department in an arrest affidavit, reports the Associated Press.
An investigation into the nine-year-old schnauzer’s death started in December after an airport janitor found the dog’s body in a trash bag in a bathroom stall.
The investigation led police to issue an arrest warrant for 57-year-old Alison Agatha Lawrence.
Earlier in the day, the janitor saw the woman in the bathroom stall, cleaning up water and dog food from floor. The janitor returned to the bathroom 20 minutes later and found the body of the dog, named Tywinn, in a garbage cannister bag.
She also found a companion vest, collar, rabies tag, travel bag and name tag with the woman’s name and phone number.
Airport surveillance cameras captured the woman speaking for 15 minutes to a Latam Airlines agent with the dog in tow. Then she could be seen walking with Tywinn into a bathroom near the ticketing area.
She left the bathroom without Tywinn less than 20 minutes later.
The woman then went outside the terminal, reentered, passed through security and boarded the Colombia-bound plane.
Authorities said the woman had been told she could not bring her dog on board because she did not have the proper paperwork. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, dogs traveling from the U.S. to Colombia must be accompanied by a veterinarian-issued health certificate and a rabies vaccination certificate.
The dog was identified by its implanted microchip. An autopsy confirmed death by drowning.
After hearing about the incident, Florida State Sen. Tom Leek, who recently filed an animal cruelty offences bill, spoke on the Senate floor: “This is yet another horrible example of why I filed (the bill) related to animal cruelty, which strengthens criminal penalties for those who do harm to innocent animals.”
A detective investigating the case noted that Lawrence had other options, such as re-homing or surrendering the dog to a shelter.
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