ORLANDO (United States), March 23 — A traveller in the US was arrested and charged last week with animal abuse after allegedly drowning her nine-year-old miniature schnauzer named Tywinn in an airport bathroom before boarding an international flight to Colombia.
Media reports identified the traveller as Alison Agatha Lawrence, adding that the 58-year-old woman had been denied permission to bring the animal on board her flight due to a paperwork issue.
She was arrested in Lake County, Florida last Wednesday.
“This act was intentional and resulted in a cruel and unnecessary death of the animal,” the Orlando Police Department was quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency as saying in an arrest affidavit.
The incident was reported to have happened last December 16 when a janitor at the Orlando International Airport found the corpse of the white coloured dog named Tywinn inside a trash bag of a bathroom stall, along with a companion vest, collar, rabies tag, dog travel bag, and a bone-shaped tag with Lawrence’s name and phone number.
The janitor claimed to have seen Lawrence cleaning up water and dog food from the stall floor earlier.
Airport CCTV footage also showed the woman speaking with a Latam Airlines agent for 15 minutes while holding the dog, then entering a nearby bathroom and leaving without Tywinn less than 20 minutes later.
Lawrence exited the terminal, reentered, passed through security, and boarded a Colombia-bound plane, according to media reports.
Citing the US Department of Agriculture, AP reported that dogs traveling from the US to Colombia require a veterinarian-issued health certificate and a rabies vaccination certificate.
The dog was identified through its implanted microchip, and a necropsy confirmed it had drowned.
US Customs and Border Protection confirmed the woman had flown to Bogotá, Colombia, and later travelled to Ecuador.
