Tip leads to owner’s arrest after puppy found abandoned with broken bones in Cañon City
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) – Over a month after the Cañon City Police Department (CCPD) asked the public for help identifying the owner of a pug puppy found abandoned with broken bones, police say they've located and arrested the person responsible.
Police said the puppy, a 6-week-old female pug mix lovingly nicknamed "Tater" by officers, was found abandoned near a business on Main Street.
KRDO13 spoke with the owners of The Flipping Flea Market, who said in late April, someone left the puppy at their side door in a plastic tote with only a note, her leg wrapped in gauze.
"Right away, we saw that its leg was wrapped and when we tried to pick up the puppy, it was obviously in a lot of pain," co-owner James Thomas said.
According to an affidavit, the puppy was "clearly lethargic, limp and needing food and water" when she was discovered abandoned.
Thomas and co-owner Kelly Simpson quickly brought Tater to a nearby shelter. They say they didn't see the person who dropped the puppy off.
Cañon City police later confirmed Tater had suffered two broken bones – a "significant injury" that, without treatment, was "knowingly and needlessly causing torture to Tater," court documents read.
On April 28, the department posted photos of the puppy and put out a call for help identifying her owner.
Shortly after, a woman contacted them, who told police she had recently adopted a puppy from 44-year-old Christin Lewis-Benedetti. She said Lewis-Benedetti mentioned having an injured dog in her car just hours before Tater was abandoned – and the woman recognized Tater as being from the same litter.
The tip, alongside a subsequent investigation, led the department to charge Lewis-Benedetti with animal cruelty. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and she was taken into custody on June 2.
CCPD said she has since been released on a $1,000 bond. KRDO13 attempted to contact Lewis-Benedetti, but was unable to reach her. She is set to appear in court later this month.
In the meantime, the Fremont County Humane Society tells KRDO13 that little Tater is now recovering from surgery and is with a foster family.
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