Investigators search for 2 women who abandoned dog in Lakeland neighborhood: Grady Judd

Search for dog dumping suspects in Lakeland

Carla Bayron reports.

LAKELAND, Fla. - Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office are looking for two women who abandoned a dog in a neighborhood and then drove off.

The incident happened in west Lakeland earlier this month.

Pictured: SUV believed to be involved in the Lakeland puppy abandonment case. Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office.

According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, two women driving a red and black SUV stopped at Southern Avenue and Greenwood Street in Lakeland on February 6, dumped a Maltese mix puppy onto the street and left him behind.

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"The puppy immediately started running down the road trying to catch up to the car," said Judd. "The puppy must've been thinking, ‘hey, you left me. You ran off and left me. Really?’ Well, you know that's against the law."

Neighbors saw this happen and called Polk County Animal Control, and the dog is now up for adoption. The sheriff said its hard get exact numbers on how often animal abandonment happens.

"Does it happen? Yes. Does it happen often? We don't know," Judd said. "A lot of times, people just pick the animals up and keep them. Sometimes they pick them up and notify us."

It's not the first case of animal abandonment in Polk County this year. In mid-January, a man abandoned a dog and her four puppies at a church in Winter Haven.

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He has since been identified and charged with five misdemeanor counts of animal abandonment.

"We hope if people are picking up abandoned animals that they take care of them appropriately. If not, call us, and we'll make sure they get a good home," Judd said.

The sheriff adds the community can help by adopting animals from animal control when they can.

If you have any information that could be helpful to this investigation, please contact Deputy Caldwell at (863) 534-7205 or at rc8138@polksheriff.org. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Heartland Crime Stoppers in one of four ways: