When an Ohio man zipped six puppies into a suitcase and left the bag in front of a Toledo business April 4, he thought he’d left his problems behind. He tied the pups’ mom to a trash bin near the suitcase and bolted from the scene of the crime.
When passers-by saw the mama Bulldog pacing and scratching at a suitcase, they went to investigate. When they discovered the puppies shortly after, they wondered who could do such a thing.
The person responsible for abandoning the Bulldogs might have gotten away with it if it weren’t for one little oversight: in his hurry to ditch the dogs, he neglected to remove the luggage tags containing his name and contact information, leading the authorities right to his doorstep.
Howard Davis, 53, lives two blocks away from the business where he abandoned his dog and her puppies. “Howard’s name was on the tag of the suitcase and the mother was licensed to him,” said Toledo Area Humane Society spokesperson, Cyndi Condit.
John Dinon, the executive director of the organization, is pleased that Davis has been caught, but wishes the incident had gone down differently. “It’s unfortunate he chose to abandon the dogs,” Dinon said of Davis. “If he had just called us and said he couldn’t care for them, we would have taken them and he wouldn’t have been charged with a crime.”
Davis claims that he had tried to give the Bulldogs to a friend in Michigan, but that the puppies and his suitcase were stolen before he could meet with the friend. Authorities aren’t buying Davis’ story: He has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal abandonment, carrying a maximum punishment of 90 days in jail and a $750 fine. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning.
The six Bulldog puppies – three males and three females – are doing well, and have been estimated to be around four weeks old (see video below). Mom and pups are currently in the care of the Toledo Area Humane Society until they are ready to go up for adoption.
