Sheriff's Office seeks information on puppy drop

Jessica Waters

With a free-fall drop of more than three times her height, a bruising landing in an unfamiliar gravel parking lot and the squeal of tires and the choking fumes of exhaust marking the abrupt departure of her humans, four-month old Gracie - a friendly, tail-wagging mixed breed puppy - lost everything familiar and comfortable.

Caught on the video security camera of the Mission Valley Animal Shelter, those brief moments that heralded Gracie's arrival at the front doors of the MVAS shocked shelter workers, angered animal lovers, and caught the attention of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

"Just because the shelter is next to the dump, doesn't mean you can just dump an animal off there," detective Dan Yonkin said. "We would really like to talk to the people who did this."

Brenda Jones, operations manager at the shelter, said that furtive drop-offs are an on-going problem, and that the staff at the shelter often finds boxes of kittens on the doorstep, or dogs chained to the fence.

The cruelty of many of these "animal dumps" has put the shelter in the position, many times, of having to deal with injured and traumatized animals, which are harder to place. Add to the upheaval of the method of abandonment, the fact that the shelter has no medical or behavioral history on animals that are illegally dumped, and it makes placing these helpless - and blameless - pets even more difficult, Jones said.

While the abandonment of animals on shelter property often occurs after work hours, Gracie's arrival at the shelter happened in the mid-morning hours of Oct. 16, and was observed not only by the security camera, but by employees working at the time.

"Chris was in the back and she happened to look out the window and see them (the silver car) pull into the parking lot, said Jones. "She saw them pull in and roll down the passenger window and just throw the puppy out. He sat there and they sped off back down the road; they didn't stop, they didn't come in, they just dumped her there."

Although the MVAS works hard to find homes for the animals it shelters, Jones pointed out that they do have limited space and resources, and although she understands that circumstances may sometimes require a pet owner to surrender their animal, there is a responsible, legal process.

"With the downturn in the economy, we know how tough it is," she said. "But people need to accept responsibility. We can come up with solutions, there are options, but you have to take responsibility."

If you have any information on the silver car, its owners, or Gracie's history, please contact the MVAS at 883-5312 or detective Dan Yonkin at 883-7279.