San Diego Humane Society investigators this week searched for three people who left a puppy for dead outside a San Marcos convenience store.
A Humane Society officer responded to Circle Mart, 202 S. Rancho Santa Fe Road, around 10:45 a.m. Sunday.
A customer had alerted the store’s cashier to an abandoned Chihuahua left in a photo memorabilia box near a trash container just outside the entrance, according to the Humane Society.
The fawn-colored female, estimated to be about 6 weeks old, was “extremely lethargic, malnourished and in need of emergency medical attention.”
The puppy was rushed to the Humane Society’s Escondido Campus for medical treatment, but after receiving a grave prognosis, was euthanized.
Video surveillance outside the liquor store showed a dark blue or black two-door sedan with at least three people inside. The driver pulled up and parked in front of a Metro by T-Mobile store.
The video showed a man exiting the back seat of the car and going into the liquor store. He returned to the sedan as the car’s female driver went into the liquor store.
While the woman was inside, the man took an uncovered box from the car and placed it next to the trash container near the entrance of the liquor store.
A customer then came out, saw a puppy in the box and immediately alerted the cashier.
A short time later, the female driver returned to the sedan carrying a bag of ice and drove away.
The male suspect was described as a heavy-set Hispanic man in his 20s. He had black neck-length hair and a short beard, stood roughly 5-foot-11. He wore a black zip-up hooded sweatshirt, gray pants and white tennis shoes.
The female driver was described as a heavy set, 5-foot-4 Hispanic woman in her 20s. She had black hair pulled back in a ponytail and was wearing a black T-shirt, olive green pants and gray tennis shoes with white stripes.
A second woman in the car was described as a roughly 5-foot-3 Latina in her 20s. She had black hair in a bun and was wearing a gray T-shirt, dark pants and black slip-on shoes.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Humane Society at 619-299-7012 (press 1) or Crime Stoppers at 888-540-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
– City News Service
