Woman says she’s the one who abandoned dog in viral video that received harsh criticism
A woman who says she’s the driver seen abandoning a dog at a Maine shelter in a video that went viral last week anonymously told her side of the story on a Portland radio station Friday after her actions received harsh criticism.
Security cameras caught a person abandoning the dog last week at the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, and the shelter’s Facebook post of the incident has since been shared more than 12,000 times. Three days later, officials found the dog dead on the side of the road after it was hit by a car, the shelter said.
On Friday, the woman, who said she’s a 21-year-old single mother of three, defended her actions in an interview with 107.5 Frank FM, saying that she had abandoned the dog after it bit her young son and nipped at her infant daughter.
“I love animals to death,’’ she told the station, “but I love my kids more.’’
The woman said that she took the dog — which had previously belonged to her ex-boyfriend’s ex-wife — into her home in August. It quickly became aggressive, so she said she asked the original owner to take it back, but the other woman refused. She said she called Auburn police last Sunday and asked them to remove it from her home, but they told her she couldn’t surrender it to authorities as she wasn’t its owner.
Feeling trapped with the animal and fearing for her children’s safety, she said she felt she had no options but to take it to the shelter. She arrived just as the shelter was closing, and said she was forced to leave the dog in the parking lot and drive away as it chased her minivan through the lot.
“I understand that I did wrong, and I regret it — that I did wrong and that she got hit — but like I said before, my kids are everything to me,’’ she told the station.
Later on Friday, police disputed the details of her story in an interview with the Portland Press Herald.
Police said they had responded to a report of a dog bite, but the child wasn’t present and it had occurred two days prior to the report. Officers advised the woman to take the dog to the shelter the following day, and also contacted its original owner, who said she could not take the dog back to her new apartment.
The shelter also noted that the video shows the woman arrived just after they had closed, but when workers were still present and lights were on, according to the Press Herald.
Lewiston police said they have identified and spoken with the woman and forwarded the case to the Androscoggin District Attorney’s office, which could charge the woman criminally.
“Thank you to our staff, volunteers and members of the public who helped us try to bring this dog back to safety,’’ the shelter wrote on Facebook. “You are all greatly appreciated.’’
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