Arrest warrant issued for man, 70, charged in abandoning 5 dogs

RELATED: Dayton police seize 2 dogs from home

UPDATE @ 4:12 p.m. (Aug. 3)

Criminal charges are in the process of being filed against a 70-year-old man for allegedly abandoning dogs at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center.

Rufus Hutcherson Jr., 70, is facing charges of cruelty to animals (two counts); abandoning animals (five counts); failure to restrain a dog; failure to license a dog; and furnishing false information, all misdemeanor charges.

Hutcherson is reportedly the man in surveillance video seen leaving a box of puppies, as well as an unrestrained mother dog, outside the shelter with no food, water or shelter.

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“The person was seen ‘telling' the dog to stay and subsequently kicked the dog prior to leaving,” reads a press release.

Authorities have not been able to locate Hutcherson due to providing false addresses and contact information in the days after he was interviewed about the abandoned dogs.

Hutcherson admitted to having owned the mother dog for years. He said the dog had 10 puppies in July, and six of those puppies died before he decided to abandon the rest, according to ARC.

UPDATE @ 2:35 p.m. (July 24)

The man who was caught on video abandoning an adult dog and her four puppies has been identified and was questioned by investigators, the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center said in a Facebook post.

It was not immediately known if authorities were planning to file any charges against the man.

ARC said the mother and three surviving puppies are ‘doing well’ and they are working to find a home for the dogs.

FIRST REPORT

The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center wants to know the identity of a man who allegedly abandoned an adult dog and her four puppies at the shelter on Thursday. One of the puppies has since died, according to a center spokesman Monday.

The shelter is asking for the public’s help to identify who dropped off the Pit Bull mix four puppies at the entrance to the facility at about 8:30 p.m. on July 20.

Security cameras captured images of a gray four-door car pulling into the parking lot at 6790 Webster St. in Dayton.

A man is seen getting out of the driver side with a child, and placing a plastic bin containing the puppies near the front door. The security cameras did not capture the vehicle’s license plate.

Abandoning a companion animal is a second degree misdemeanor in Ohio. If you recognize the man in the surveillance video, contact the Animal Resource Center at 937-898-4457.