Featured Image Credit: Orland Police Department
Topics: Animal Cruelty, Florida, Police, US News, Animals
Liv Bridge
Topics: Animal Cruelty, Florida, Police, US News, Animals
Warning: This article contains discussion of animal cruelty which some readers may find distressing.
An airport worker made a horrifying discovery in a dumpster after a woman was told she couldn't fly with a pet dog.
On December 16 2024, Alison Agatha Lawrence of Clermont, Florida, was turned away from boarding a plane after she reportedly didn't have the correct paperwork for the dog.
It is alleged the 57-year-old decided to still catch the flight at Orlando International Airport and that she killed the animal by drowning it in a public restroom before the security checkpoint and dumping its body in the trash.
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The dead dog was found by an employee at the airport who alerted her supervisor and Orlando Police.
In a police statement, the employee claimed she saw the woman 'on her knees cleaning up a lot of water and a lot of dog food of the bathroom handicapped stall'.
A medical examination discovered the dog died from drowning.
Surveillance footage also showed Lawrence leaving the women's toilets without the dog and appearing at the gate of her flight.
Officers later arrested Lawrence for aggravated animal abuse at her home on Tuesday (March 18) and released her from Lake County Jail five hours later on $5,000 bail, reports People.
In the state, animal cruelty charges can put offenders behind bars for up to five years and slapped with a $10,000 fine.
Speaking to WFTV, neighbors Roy and Janet Fernandes claimed they hadn't seen the little dog for a while.
Janet said her husband had said to her: "'I don't know why we haven't seen the lady with the little white dog lately.' And then we hear this sad story."
The couple also revealed how they witnessed police descend on Lawrence's home to carry out the arrest.
Janet said: "I kept looking out, wondering what was going on.
"Then they left, then they came back. He said he heard a commotion going on outside. That must have been when they arrested her."
In response, State Senator Tom Leek said in a statement: "This is yet another horrible example of why I filed Senate Bill 502: (Animal Cruelty Offences) related to animal cruelty, which strengthens criminal penalties for those who do harm to innocent animals.
"It is my commitment to have this good bill pass the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives and sent to Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature."
If you see an animal in distress and/or in need of help, call 911 if a crime is in progress. You can also visit a directory of animal abuse investigation agencies by state here.