Post-a-puppy woman hit with cruelty charges

A Minneapolis woman has been hit with animal cruelty charges after she tried to relocate a puppy to Atlanta, via airmail. Stacey Champion told post office workers in downtown Minneapolis to be particularly careful with the tightly sealed package she submitted for sending as a birthday gift to a relative in Georgia. Champion …

[The Indomitable Gall]

Airmail...?

Jeezy peeps,

What with the temperature the hold of a plane drops to in flight, you'd be left with what a Yank would have to call a pupsicle...!

[Charles Manning]

Crap

Pets are routinely ferried in cargo holds along with post etc.

[Chad Larson]

airplane hold

The cargo hold in a commercial airliner has the same air as the passenger compartment. In fact, there are ventilation holes in the floor of the passenger compartment to share the air. It's too much trouble to try to keep them separate, even if there were a good reason to do so.

[Anonymous Coward]

A title is required

Don't bother with prison, just put her in a tightly sealed package and stick her in a warehouse somewhere.

[Code Monkey]

Yes

Via airmail, of course

[Matthew 3]

RE: A title is required

And after she's been put in the warehouse:

"We have top men working on it right now."

"Who?"

"Top Men".

[Elmer Phud]

Velvets

Thanks, even without watching the vid I can hear 'Straight into Waldo Jeffer's head'.

If she wanted to post the puppy she ought to have used a larger container - maybe the sort that's used to put cats in to.

[Wize]

What...

...a wheelie bin?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: What

It can keep the cockerel company.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/07/bin_bird/

[George Nacht]

So, how long before

someone post some kind of Schroedinger joke?

Jokes aside, how am I supposed to call this woman? "Bitch" doesn´t cover it, as no bitch would treat a puppy like that.

[Chad H.]

Schrodinger

Schrodinger's thing was a cat - not a dog.

[Tim Elphick]

I agree.

Please review the factual basis for your humour before posting.

[Anonymous Coward]

It might have been a dog, you cannot know until you look in the box...

According to the Copenhagen interpretation, when Schrödinger's cat is in the box it exists as a superposed wave function which is not collapsed until it is observed.

You cannot tell if the cat is alive or dead (it is both). You also cannot tell if Schrödinger accidentally put a dog in there instead (it is that too).

As for the original article; I call Hanlon's razor.....

[Chad H.]

@ AC 14:32GMT

Okay, you got me there.

[Charles Manning]

It's a cat

but until you check it could also be a dog.

[Scorchio!!]

Re: Schrodinger

"Schrodinger's thing was a cat - not a dog."

However his point was species independent. Particularity is to be avoided when discussing physics concepts. It could just as easily have been a baby, or even an adult human.

[fch]

"animal in box" and Schroedinger references ...

... and noone here so far suggested to lock Schroedinger in the box instead !

Btw, Schroedinger obviously chose a cat to simplify the experiment. Had he used a mole, fox or rabbit instead, it might well have tunnelled out ...

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

Just bizarre!

Makes you wonder what thought processes go through the head of someone like this? Was she simply freaking stupid or actually not bothered if the animal made it to the destination alive? Judging by the fact that she lied about the package containing a toy robot, to disgiuse the poor creatures cries for help, she's obviously doesn't give a toss about another creature's welfare!

Just boogles your noggin!

[Anonymous Coward]

You missed the point...

She was probably trying to send a dead puppy to the relative in Georgia, whom she obviously hates and wanted to completely freak out.

It's just that it hadn't died yet when it got to the airport...

[Anonymous Coward]

She's a plant

Cat-bin-lady paid her to do it to make her seem sane by comparison.

[Bonce]

Ooh! A present from Auntie Stacey

How exciting!

*unwraps*

Hmmm, a dead puppy with ten dollars stuffed in its collar. Thanks Auntie Stacey.

[Anonymous Coward]

Relative-ly awful

I've had worse presents from relatives.

[Anonymous Coward]

The ten Dollars

Would obviously go towards the kids first therapy session.

[Anonymous Coward]

Her IQ is not what her surname suggests,,,,

....and sometimes I think dogs are the most unfortunate species in the world, having to deal with humans on a daily basis...

[JaitcH]

This is on a par with drying small dogs in a microwave or X-raying a baby in check-in

It appears the days when ignorant New Yorkers 'nuked' their miniature dogs are fading but this particular women is little better.

There was also the cases in the U.S. where babies carrier were X-rayed for dangerous weapons, with the BABY still INSIDE! See: < http://articles.latimes.com/2006/dec/20/local/me-baby20 > and <http://www.securityoracle.com/security_forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=267 >.

[Disco-Legend-Zeke]

Chicks Are...

...shipped from hatcheries* every Monday by via US postal Service.

Most arrive safe and alive on Wednesday. Boxes are clearly marked and have plenty of air holes. No one pretends the peeping noises are toy related.

*often to clueless people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpIw4R4wxFQ

[John Gaunt]

Peeping Packages

I have stood in line in US post offices where peeping packages were behind the counter waiting for the recipient to pick them up. The packages have numerous air holes, are marked appropriately, and emit chirping noises.

I do not know the USPS regulations for shipping other livestock or any animal larger than chicks.

[steward]

Apparently...

the problem was simply not telling the postal service that there was a live animal in there. Live animals have to be shipped Special Handling, and there are increased postage fees and notifications for that.

http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail/extraservices/specialhandlingservice.htm

[LateNightLarry]

Apparently,

Sorry, you cannot ship live animals, except day old poultry, bees, and certain reptiles in the mail... Special Handling or not... In fact, day old poultry, etc., must be sent Express Mail with guaranteed overnight delivery.

[LateNightLarry]

Peeping Packages

US Postal regulations do permit the mailing of day old poultry, bees, and certain other insects and reptiles, but there are restrictions on maximum transit time, expected weather, etc. Basically, each shipment is decided on a case by case basis at the time the properly marked boxes are presented for shipping... Boxes must be well ventilated, Dogs or cats CANNOT be shipped through the mail.

Generally, USPS must be able to deliver the package within 24 hours, nothing ships over a weekend or holiday, and the recipient must be available to receive the package upon arrival. I can remember many times having boxes of chicks or bees sitting in the coolest part of the office waiting for the consignee to pick them up.

Just hand me the one with the copy of US Postal Regs (1,000 page abridged edition) in the pocket...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not perfectly "safe".

There is generally a 5% to 10% fatality rate in shipping chicks. In fact, I think some chick hatcheries ship extra in each box to compensate for this.

[bubba-bear]

USPS Chicks

The USPS established the chick postal delivery service about a hundred years ago; it served a specific need at the time, and it is still used. There are specific requirements regarding the packaging of the chicks, and the USPS ensures that the chicks are handled properly during transport and delivery. The trays of chicks are handled quite differently from a box containing a pair of boots or an improperly packaged and posted puppy.

[onyxruby]

Unfair title

This occurred fairly close to where I live and so I've already read the local articles about it. The title is unfair, it was only due to the diligence of the postal workers in the first place that this puppy was found and saved before it was killed in transit.

The women who shipped the puppy lied about what was inside and shipped the animal with a service that doesn't support shipping live animals to begin with. It's a bit like complaining about someone's Honda failing to be able to tow a small yacht, it was never advertised as being able to do such a thing to begin with! To top it all off the same women then returned and demanded a refund of her shipping charge.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: Unfair title

Sorry - unfair how? There's no implication she didn't deserve it.

[Bit Brain]

I think they're referring to the sub-title

"Dogs can survive anything but the US Postal Service"

[Anonymous Coward]

... and ironically

The puppy was probably subsequently taken to a pound and put down.

[Simpson]

Mafia warning?

Maybe it was intended as a low budget version of a horse's head.

[Graham Bartlett]

@John Gaunt

I think the issue is more that you need to *know* it's got something living inside it. Air-freighting dogs is perfectly normal - after all, you can't exactly book it a seat. But the shipper needs to know the box has an animal in it, so that the box gets put in a heated, pressurised hold.

[Anonymous Coward]

Air Freighting dogs

Dogs shipped via airlines do get special handling, but cost $400 to $500. There was a case recently where someone shipped a furless cat in midwinter which contracted hypothermia and died due to the baggage workers taking to long to unload it from the plane. Being put into a cargo hold is a VERY traumatic experience for a pet.

[tony trolle]

thats cheap (no chicken pun)

I got a quote of $2000 from USA to UK

[bubba-bear]

The animal also needs a health certificate

When an animal is air shipped within the US, it needs to be certified by a veterinarian that it is healthy and has had proper immunizations. I used to check my cat as baggage -- he was in a proper kennel that was suitable for shipping an animal -- and he had to have a valid health certificate.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

@heated, pressurised hold.

I'd love to see one of these planes where the hold isn't pressurized - do the pilots wear space suits?

Still one airport claimed some gear of mine had to go in my carry on because it wasn't allowed in the unpressurized hold in my checked baggage!

The hold (or part of it on a 747) is heated if they have pets, if the pilot remembers to turn it on!

[Jon Double Nice]

Reminds me of good old GTA3

http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3/petsOvernight/

[John Smith 19]

Too many possibilities

Sadly none of them in good taste.

Probably best to leave it there.

[Glenn Charles]

fatality

Due temp and atmospheric pressure. Not that I ever rode in a cargo plane.

--G