Reward of Up to $5,000 Offered in Deadly Puppy-Dumping Case

PETA Joins Search for Culprit(s) Who Left Nine Puppies in a Garbage Bag in the Woods, Killing Seven

For Immediate Release:
November 5, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

On the afternoon of October 26, a couple camping off County Road 244 near Rifle made a horrifying discovery: an open trash bag with nine newborn puppies inside, two of whom were already dead. They immediately called the authorities, who rushed the puppies to the Divide Creek Animal Hospital, where they were bottle-fed every two hours, wrapped in warm towels, and kept under surgical lamps designed to normalize their body temperatures—but despite these efforts, only two survived, and they’re being carefully monitored in foster homes.

“With their slightly dried umbilical cords still attached and their eyes closed, [these puppies] would not have survived the night,” the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “The cold afternoon air and the coming colder night, with no nourishment, would have soon seen the end to the entire litter.”

Law-enforcement officials have yet to make any arrests in connection with the crime—which is a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a minimum fine of $500 and a possibility of up to six months in jail. That’s why PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction on cruelty-to-animals charges of the person or persons responsible for dumping these puppies.

“At least one person out there left a trash bag full of newborn puppies outside in the cold and walked away, leaving them vulnerable to dying of hypothermia,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA urges anyone with information to come forward immediately so that whoever left these dogs to die can be held accountable and stopped from hurting anyone else.”

Anyone with information should call the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office at 970-625-8095.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.