A rottweiler named Coco Puff is recovering at the Monmouth County SPCA after she was found tied up in the backyard of a Neptune Township home on Christmas Eve. She was allegedly abandoned by her owners.
Coco Puff is just 3 years old. She is well behaved, quiet and gentle. She loves to have her head rubbed.
The dog was rescued from a home on Fisher Avenue. She was left in the backyard on Dec. 24. It wasn’t until three days later that someone called the police, and she was discovered.
Authorities say that Coco Puff was sleeping on a concrete slab in the backyard and was attached to a very short chain leash. She had no food or water, and temperatures were cold outside.
“It was drastically, drastically cold. How she survived, we don’t know. But God willing she did,” says Ross Licitra, executive director of the Monmouth County SPCA.
Licitra says that when his staff found Coco Puff, she was scared.
“You could tell she was longing for companionship and looking for her owners,” he says.
News 12 has learned that the pipes in the Fisher Avenue home burst on Christmas Eve, forcing the tenants to evacuate. Coco Puff’s owners were forced to leave her behind.
Owners Iquan Carson and Shonquel Lindsey are now charged with animal cruelty, cruelty restraint and failure to provide the necessary care.
Carson did not wish to speak on camera about the issue but told News 12 that when he was forced to evacuate, he couldn’t take Coco Puff in the Uber or keep her at the hotel.
But this was not a good enough excuse for law enforcement.
“They absolutely made no effort to notify any authority that Coco was out there by herself. Or any attempt with any family member to try and find her shelter,” Licitra says.
Lictria says the dog may have been better off if the owners simply let her run free.
Coco Puff has rebounded, and if the SPCA can gain ownership through the courts, she will be adopted by a new family.
