LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Upon lifting the dumpster lid, a Las Vegas neighbor was shocked to see a 12-pound Chihuahua howling for attention—luckily the garbage truck hadn’t yet turned the corner.
A Las Vegas neighborhood security camera captured an individual exiting a dark SUV Monday morning, carrying a chihuahua to a dumpster before throwing it in. The individual driving back to close the dumpster lid.
“We had an individual reach out to us that went to throw trash away in a dumpster, and happened to find a dog inside the dumpster,” Lindsey Pinapfel, a Vegas Pet Rescue Project volunteer, said. “From there, they were able to backtrack to their cameras and see what time that dog arrived in that dumpster.”
Pinapfel said it appeared the individual carried the dog by the scruff of the neck before throwing the Chihuahua in the dumpster.
“I don’t care what this dog did, there is no excuse for the abuse that this dog just had to endure but there are resources,” she said.
The incident follows the revival of “Reba’s Law” in the Nevada Legislature which aims to implement harsher penalties on animal cruelty convictions.
“This is the exact reason that we need harsher punishment and stricter rules and laws in regard to animal abuse,” Pinapfel said.
Pinapfel said the Chihuahua, named Atreyu after the 1984 movie The NeverEnding Story, is now recovering at a Las Vegas animal hospital.
“We need to hold people accountable, and something needs to change,” she said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Division is investigating the incident.
