GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — An animal lover in the Denver metro has a warning for those who choose to use social media to find a new puppy.
Nathalie Munoz recently came across a Facebook ad giving away a free puppy.
"I got a little scared — raised a lot of red flags. I contacted her immediately and said, 'Is it still available?' She told me yes and said she had another dog is as well," Munoz said.
The woman getting rid of the puppies went by the name Cassie Rogan on Facebook. Her real name is Tori McBrayer, a 19 year old from Dallas, Texas. On Aug. 7, the two met inside a La Quinta in Greenwood Village.
"She came out of the lobby with a really big box and handed it to me. I asked her if she had her vaccinations and all the paperwork, and she said yes and just ran away," Munoz said.
The two puppies were inside the box. Munoz says one was frantically trying to get out and the other was barely moving.
"She was basically whimpering really quietly, like crying, and she wasn’t moving at all. Her eyes were barely open," Munoz said.
She took the puppies to the vet where she found out the puppy barely moving had parvo, an infection that commonly happens with unvaccinated dogs.
"They told us there was no way she was going to survive, she was already dying and that she was dying very painfully," Munoz said.
Munoz had to make the tough choice to put the puppy down. According to vet records, the other puppy had deteriorating muscle as a result of inadequate nutrition.
The next day, Munoz, along with animal control and Greenwood Village Police Department, met McBrayer outside of the same hotel to buy a dog from her.
"I can’t control if the dog has cancer. I can’t control if the dog has parvo," McBrayer told the present companies when she was confronted.
Denver7 spoke to McBrayer off camera who says both puppies were healthy before giving them over. She also says she gave the puppies their proper vaccinations, but declined show the proper paperwork to prove it. McBrayer was cited on a cruelty to animals offense, a misdemeanor.
"The fact that they just gave her a ticket or see the abuse from a misdemeanor, and now that she knows she can get away with it, I feel like they have nothing to fear at this point," Munoz said.
The two surviving puppies are now in the care Humane Society of South Platte Valley.
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