Aiken woman charged with abandonment of animals; newborn puppies brought to SPCA
Jan. 21—An Aiken woman was arrested Wednesday in connection to the abandonment of a dog and her six newborn puppies.
Lakeshia Monique Bush, 34, is charged with two counts of abandonment / ill treatment of animals.
On Jan. 14, Aiken Public Safety officers responded to the 600 block of Sumter Street N.E. in reference to an animal welfare check.
The complainant told police "there was an extremely malnourished dog chained in the back" that had given birth to several puppies the day before, according to an incident report obtained from the Aiken Department of Public Safety.
Upon arrival, officers noticed six malnourished newborn puppies and a malnourished mother in the back yard of the residence.
"The mother was tightly tangled under a tree, preventing her from reaching her puppies and water," according to the report. "The six puppies were unable to feed from the mother due to her entanglement."
Police called the SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare, which arrived on scene about 20 minutes later.
The mother and puppies were loaded into a crate and transported to Albrecht Center to be evaluated.
"The veterinarian on duty evaluated all dogs and confirmed the mother was incapable of feeding her puppies due to dry mammary glands," according to the report. "Even if the mother was free of entanglement, her level of malnourishment prevented the puppies from being nourished as well."
The puppies were placed in an incubator in order to regain optimal core temperature due to the puppies having extremely low temperature readings from being left outside.
On Monday, the Albrecht Center said three employees are caring for the puppies. Each puppy needs to be fed every two hours, requiring around-the-clock care.
The three employees are each taking two puppies home every night to feed them, since the mother is still unable to.
The owner of the residence was identified as the suspect on Tuesday.
Arrest warrants state the suspect "did knowingly and intentionally deprive a female mix breed brown and white Pit-bull of necessary sustenance causing unnecessary pain and suffering upon the animal. The Pit-bull had given birth to six puppies two days prior and was unable to nurse them due to lack of milk," leading to the first charge of ill treatment of animals.
The second charge of ill treatment of animals was for causing "unnecessary pain and suffering upon the puppies" due to the mother being restrained and unable to reach the puppies, according to the warrants.
Bush was transported to the Aiken County detention center for incarceration.
