Woman Who Mailed Puppy Won't Get it Back
Put a live puppy in the mail and you probably shouldn't expect to get it back.
Stacey Champion, the woman who attempted to mail a poodle from Minneapolis to Atlanta, will not be getting the animal back, according to the ruling of an administrative hearing officer.
Champion said that she was attempting to send the puppy to her 11-year-old son. She liked the idea that he would open the box and be surprised with a brand new puppy. If that package had ever made it to her son, it certainly would have been a surprise, though not the joyful kind. The box had no holes in it, no food, no water, and would have been transported in a freezing, non-pressurized cargo area.
Not surprisingly, the scene in the courtroom was odd. "I was deprived of my son not receiving his gift for his birthday ... I felt really, really bad as a mom," Champion said. She also asked for her box back. Hearing officer Fabian Hoffner shot down all of Champion's requests, calling her behavior "disgraceful," the Herald Sun reports.
The puppy, named Guess, is a 4-month-old Schnauzer-poodle mix. He will remain at the Minneapolis Animal Care and Control shelter for now, the Associated Press reports. People have already inquired with Animal Control about adopting Guess.
"Guess is doing well ... Despite the trauma he endured, he appears to be a healthy and happy puppy who likes to play and receive attention from staff," said Minneapolis police Sgt. Angela Dodge told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Stacey Champion now faces two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. Animal cruelty laws punish the harms of animals in a brutal or vicious way. While traditionally under the common law, animals were treated as property, states have expanded the rights and protections of animals over the years.
Related Resources:
- Woman loses custody of dog in the mail (Herald Sun)
- Does the Federal Anti-Animal-Cruelty-Depiction Statute Violate the First Amendment? (FindLaw)
- Is Cruelty to Animals the Mere Destruction of Property? The Highway Dog-killing And Animal Rights (FindLaw)
