Woman sentenced to jail, convicted of throwing newborn puppies in dumpster

A California woman will be spending time in jail after pleading guilty to throwing a bag that contained seven, three-day-old puppies into a dumpster.

The incident was caught on tape.

Deborah Sue Culwell was sentenced this week to 356 days in county jail, with 90 days of work release, The Palm Springs Desert Sun reported.

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Culwell will also be on probation once her jail sentence is served and will not be allowed to have any animals as part of the sentence, according to the newspaper.

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She pleaded guilty Wednesday to animal cruelty counts and seven misdemeanor animal abandonment charges stemming from the April incident, KABC reported.

Animal control officials said Culwell was caught on video tossing the bag into the trash April 22. Minutes later, a passerby looked in the bag she had thrown away and found the seven puppies. With temperatures in the 90s, the man took the puppies into a nearby auto parts store where there was air conditioning until authorities could get the animals, the Desert Sun reported.

Animal experts said the puppies would not have survived long in the heat while in the dumpster.

One puppy died about a week later. The other six were placed in a foster rescue home, the Desert Sun reported.

When officials caught up with Culwell, they found 38 dogs. She gave up ownership of the dozens of animals, and many were given to rescue groups in Southern California, the newspaper reported

Cox Media Group