IMAGE VIA KISSIMMEE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Kissimmee police arrested two women Friday after discovering 24 malnourished Chihuahua puppies living in unsafe conditions inside a vehicle parked in a local parking lot.
Dana Michelle Hutchison, 42, and Dawn Kathleen Biggs, 42, face charges of animal cruelty and neglect/unsafe transport of animals. Hutchison was also charged with resisting an officer without violence at the scene.
Officers responding to the parking lot found the thin, hairless puppies crowded into crates inside a bug-infested car that was heavily covered in feces and urine, according to an Osceola County charging affidavit filed May 18. The dogs were dirty and smelled of urine, with bugs crawling throughout the vehicle, the affidavit states.
When asked why the puppies were left without food or water, Biggs told officers the vehicle had been parked in the parking lot for several weeks, and she would check on the dogs every few hours, according to the affidavit. Biggs is believed to be a transient living in Kissimmee, police said. Hutchison has open animal control citations.
The 24 dogs were removed from the vehicle with help from Osceola County Animal Services and are now receiving care.
Kissimmee police said animal cruelty is taken seriously and urged anyone with concerns about a person’s or animal’s safety to report suspicious activity to law enforcement.
