Woman held for drowning dog in Florida airport bathroom
The woman drowned her dog after being prevented from bringing it on her international flight due to paperwork issues;
A woman from Kenner, Louisiana, was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly drowning her dog, a 9-year-old miniature schnauzer, named Tywinn, in a bathroom stall at Orlando International Airport. She then boarded her international flight to Colombia, authorities said.
The woman was charged with aggravated animal abuse, a third-degree felony, and released on $5,000 bail. "This act was intentional and resulted in a cruel and unnecessary death of the animal," the Orlando Police Department stated in an arrest affidavit.
The investigation into the dog’s death began in December when a janitor found the dog in a trash bag in a bathroom stall. The janitor had earlier seen the woman in the stall cleaning up water and dog food from the floor. After the janitor was pulled away for another emergency, she returned 20 minutes later to find the dog’s body in the trash along with a companion vest, collar, rabies tag, a travel bag, and a bone-shaped tag with the woman’s name and phone number.
Surveillance footage captured the woman speaking to a Latam Airlines agent, walking into the bathroom with the dog, and exiting without the animal. She then passed through security and boarded a flight to Colombia.
The woman had been informed she could not bring her dog aboard without the proper paperwork, including a health certificate and rabies vaccination certificate required for travel to Colombia. The dog’s microchip identified Tywinn, and a necropsy confirmed that the dog had been drowned. Authorities confirmed the woman flew to Bogotá, Colombia, and then to Ecuador.