The Minneapolis woman cited for attempting to mail a puppy will almost certainly not get the animal back despite her determined appeal.
That was the decision handed down by an administrative hearing officer late Monday morning in a case that has received national attention.
Stacey Champion, 39, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after authorities say she tried to mail the pup to her son in Georgia as a birthday present. The dog, a 4-month-old poodle-schnauzer mix, was sealed tightly in a priority mail box with no food, water or air holes.
A clerk at the U.S. Postal Service found the puppy, whose name is Guess, when the box fell off the counter seemingly by itself. The clerk picked up the box and heard panting inside. A spokesperson for the post office says the puppy would likely have died if not discovered. "The dog probably would have suffocated to death or died due to exposure to cold," Postal Inspector Jesse Swanson said.
"Did you say it was a toy robot to the desk clerk?" Administrative Hearing Officer Fabian Hoffner asked Champion. Her reply: "She just kept throwing the box around so I just told her it was a toy robot."
When handing down his decision, Hoffner told Champion that her actions were "disgraceful. You cannot tell me you thought you were doing the right thing." His ruling all but ends her claim to ownership of the animal.
Earlier in the proceedings Champion admitted to the hearing officer that she indeed did try to send the puppy via the U.S. Postal Service.
"I wanted to surprise him really really good by a poodle so when he opened the box there would be just a big surprise for him and everything," Champion told the hearing officer.
Champion was asked what made her think it was OK to ship a puppy through the mail. She told the court there was no sign at the post office telling her what can or cannot be shipped.
"They don't have a display of what should be shipped and should not be shipped," she claimed.
Champion was appealing the order to revoke her ownership. The appeal required her to post a bond to cover the cost of boarding the dog at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, which came to more than $200.
She now has five additional days to appeal the administrative hearing officer's decision. If Champion chooses to appeal, she will have to post an additional bond for the puppy's care.
If she chooses not to, the dog will be put up for adoption.