Man charged after abandoning his dog in the cold at Lowa airport

A 24-year-old New Jersey man is facing criminal charges after police say he abandoned his dog at an Iowa airport over Christmas.

Charles Simon Bigsen, of Newark, faces misdemeanor animal care and neglect, according to Polk County court records. Facebook: Animal Rescue League of Iowa

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa told FOX Weather that your animal services officers responded to a call on December 29 about an American pit bull terrier tied up outside Des Moines International Airport. According to a police report, the dog was left without food or water.

The atmosphere was icy when the dog was found. An airport worker covered the dog with a blanket and sat with her until police arrived.

Airport workers told officers that the dog couldn’t board a flight home with Bigsen because she didn’t have a kennel. Bigsen then left the airport with her, but returned alone and boarded her flight, the police said.

While unprecedented flight cancellations left thousands stranded at airports after Christmas. However, it wasn’t the airlines’ fault that this sweet pup found herself stranded at the Des Moines airport in Iowa.

The one-year-old dog was later found tied up outside the airport. Since then, she has been turned over to the Animal Rescue League and renamed Allie. Once the dog receives spay surgery, microchip, and other necessary veterinary services, she will be available for adoption.

According to a police report, authorities were able to contact Bigsen on January 2, who told officers that he had been living in Des Moines since April of last year. He said he had given his dog to a friend and then got it back in September.

Bigsen claimed he had paid an additional $50 for his dog to fly with him, but when he arrived at the airport, he was told he needed a carrier, police said. “…he had gone out with the dog and had asked two women and two men if they wanted the dog and all the people had said ‘no,'” states a police report obtained by FOX Weather.

Police said Bigsen assured officers that “He couldn’t miss his flight,” so he tied up the dog and got on the plane.

Allie is just one of more than 10,000 pets the league cared for last year. The Animal Rescue League asks the community that if they want to help Allie and the hundreds of other animals in their care they can contact them immediately.

The investigation is still ongoing and his final judgment is expected in the coming days.

A California woman was arrested for letting 11 dogs in her care die

In other developments, a 22-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of felony animal abuse after nearly a dozen dogs in her care were found dead at three Southern California residences, authorities said last week. month of September.

Police and animal control began investigating the case on Aug. 11 after dead dogs were discovered in locked kennels at an abandoned home in Bakersfield, the city’s Police Department said.

After finding said kennels, search warrants were served at three residences and officers found 29 dogs alive. “who were suffering from various levels of neglect, along with three live cats,” according to a police statement. In all, 11 deceased dogs were discovered at the three locations.

For their part, investigators determined that the suspect, a Bakersfield resident, was operating a private animal boarding and training business without a license “and was directly responsible for the neglect of the animals,” the police statement said.

Additionally, the woman was not present at either residence during the course of the initial investigation, authorities said. The defendant could face charges including 11 felony animal abuse.

Some of the animals, both dead and alive, had tracking microchips, so officers are locating and notifying their owners, police said.