BLAKELY, Pa. — A Lackawanna County woman is facing accusations of animal cruelty following the discovery Tuesday of five newborn Cane Corso puppies placed in plastic garbage bags and left in two dumpsters at a townhouse development in Blakely.
Catherine Yvette Small told borough police she believed the five puppies that she directed her teenage son to dispose of in Timberfalls Apartments dumpsters had already died, according to a criminal complaint filed by Cpl. Michael Shaheen.
In fact, four were still alive.
"Small stated she believed the mother was too young to have them and wasn't taking care of them and they wouldn't eat baby milk that she tried to feed them," Shaheen wrote.
When the police asked why Small did not call for help, she replied that she received no help the last time she had a dog with puppies.
Shaheen arrested Small, 40, on a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty. Magisterial District Judge Sean McGraw arraigned her and tentatively scheduled a preliminary hearing July 30. She is free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Attempts to reach Small for comment were unsuccessful. Court records do not reflect she has an attorney.
The police became involved shortly before 4 p.m. soon after another a man named Brandon Butler visited the dumpster to discard his trash and was met with the crying of a dog, according to a police affidavit. Butler opened a trash bag and found a puppy.
Soon, the police found three other puppies in other garbage bags. One was dead. The living puppies were transferred to a local veterinary center.
The police also found a clue in one of the garbage bags: a piece of mail addressed to an apartment in the development. Small, and a large Cane Corso dog with the same gray fur as the discarded puppies, answered the door at that apartment when officers knocked.
After some questioning, police said she admitted she had her teenage son put the dogs in trash bags and take them out to the dumpster nearly 20 hours earlier because she thought they were dead. Small's son showed officers to another dumpster he used, which held the fifth, and final, Cane Corso puppy.
Ashley Wolo, executive director of Griffin Pond Animal Shelter, said the puppies spent the night with a veterinarian and are eating regularly. "They're doing well," she said.
Megan Hrinko, the Adoption Coordinator at Griffin Pond, says the two female puppies have been placed in foster homes, but brothers Moose and Hank are still waiting, "Their health is going to be the biggest thing because they are very susceptible at this point in their life. They don't have an immune system," she said.
That's because they were taken away from their mother too soon. But they are recovering.
"It is a very remarkable thing to see that four of them are here. It was unfortunate to hear that. The one did not make it, but having four is a miracle in itself," said Hrinko.
She also stressed that anyone who finds themselves with suddenly too many animals can reach out to the shelter or any veterinary service for help, "There's tons of ways you can get in touch with somebody whether it's in a rescue, a police department, any type of online Internet service can help you."