Pack of dogs dumped in woods now up for adoption, Florida cops say. Owner charged
Weeks after nine dogs were discovered in a wooded area near a Florida parking lot, their former owner has been arrested, deputies said.
The group was discovered by concerned people and captured on Sept. 18, McClatchy News previously reported.
“They were filthy, matted, and eager to stay in their scattered pack,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 18 Facebook post.
The sheriff’s office believed there may have been a 10th dog that escaped capture or others who may have been dumped at the same time, but no more dogs were found.
Deputies said someone “dumped nine, matted, filthy, confused little dogs in (a) parking lot near a wooded area in sweltering heat with no food or water,” according to an Oct. 4 Facebook post.
All of the dogs were purebred Lhasa Apsos, the sheriff’s office said, ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years.
The dogs “stayed somewhat close together, which was one of the many reasons so many people stopped to help,” the sheriff’s office said.
The dogs were taken to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast for medical attention and cleaned, but they were not eligible for adoption until deputies learned who had dumped them, the sheriff’s office said.
“Our HSTC veterinary team examined them on intake, shaved the dogs, and gave them medicated baths,” the shelter said in a Sept. 19 Facebook post. “One of the dogs had a laceration on its chest which needed stitches, another had a hernia that will need repair, some had urinary tract infections, and some had ear infections.”
In the weeks that followed, deputies searched for any clues that might lead them to the person who abandoned the dogs.
Deputies received tips that a 62-year-old Stuart woman may be a person of interest, the sheriff’s office said.
Tipsters told deputies she had recently gone from many dogs to just three, and they weren’t sure where the other dogs went, the sheriff’s office said.
When the woman was questioned, she said she didn’t know anything about the animals, but in later conversations she said she had left the dogs, according to the release.
The woman told deputies she “couldn’t handle them anymore,” according to the release.
The dogs’ owner was charged with nine counts of animal abandonment and cruelty and was taken into custody.
The sheriff’s office said the animals could not be adopted until the investigation was complete, but now that time has come.
“The next step is to prepare the dogs for new, loving homes,” the sheriff’s office said.
The dogs have not yet been added to the adoptable dog list at the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast as of Oct. 5, but can be viewed on the website once available, the shelter said.
“Despite all odds, these dogs are all very sweet and are all on the road to recovery,” the shelter said in September. “Humans were not good to these sweet and innocent creatures for the first part of their lives, so we are going to make darn sure that they know they are loved, appreciated, and comfortable for all the days ahead.”
Stuart is about 110 miles north of Miami.
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