Image: screengrab from Facebook/Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Two suspects were put behind bars in Florida after authorities found a puppy inside an abandoned car with its mouth taped shut.
Local police responded to a call about a puppy in distress inside an abandoned vehicle. It was hanging out of a window with its mouth taped shut, a release by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook stated last Thursday, April 14.
When police found the car, they also found another dog inside the vehicle. It was discovered that both puppies were left alone without any food or water.
The dogs’ owners were identified as Jaelen Anthony Barge, 20, and Allison Marie Sweck, 18. The puppy’s snout also had a training leash wrapped tightly around it, aside from the tape. The owners said they put the leash on the animal’s mouth to prevent it from nipping them.
“These sick individuals have no regard for life, no matter what life it is — in this case, the poor little puppy’s life,” sheriff Carmine Marceno stated in a video accompanying the release.
“It disgusts me that an innocent puppy was left alone in a vehicle, unable to eat, breathe, or drink,” he added.
The South District Criminal Investigations Division and Animal Cruelty Task Force assumed the investigation and both Barge and Sweck were arrested. They were booked on the local county jail on one count of aggravated animal cruelty and one count of animal cruelty.
The puppy with its mouth taped shut, which deputies called Phoenix, is now safe and recovering at the local animal service. JB
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