FAR ROCKAWAY, Queens (PIX11) – Police on patrol in Queens found themselves in the right place at the right time when they spotted six puppies in peril.
Shirley Medina was seen Saturday night in Far Rockaway, toting a pink bag. Inside were five six-week-old puppies. A little girl with her was carrying another.
Witnesses said the 44-year-old woman was trying to sell them.
"I asked about prices... the price she told me, $500 willing that's crazy," said Rolando Javier.
they were squeezed inside, starving for air, according to animal advocates.
Two NYPD officers on foot patrol were fresh out of the academy and noticed her hawking puppies on the corner of Beach Channel Drive and Horton Avenue. That wasn't the crime; it was that they were zipped up in a bag on a hot day.
"Please help!" shouted one witness.
"I heard her mention she was selling the animals," said Officer Brian Chan.
Officers Chan and Lukas Pusz looked inside the bag.
"We gotta get these dogs out of here, they're so hot," officers were heard saying on body camera video. "These dogs would have been dead in 5 minutes."
"We pried open the bag and the dogs flooded out. They were fighting for air; one was lying on the bottom, they were stomping on him," described Officer Pusz.
"I pulled that one out, opened his eyes," said Officer Austin Glickman.
Other officers arrested Medina on the spot outside Dollar General on Beach Channel Drive.
"It's just another day in New York, people trying to hustle out here," said witness Chris Pimentel.
"I'm like 'woah, what's happening to her?' Like she was just selling puppies, I didn't know you could get booked like that," said Javier.
While Medina is facing animal cruelty charges, the pups are being nursed back to health by the ASPCA.
But this saga of cops saving canines isn't over.
"We're working with ASPCA for adoption, and I think multiple officers from 101 Precinct plan to adopt," said Officer Glickman.
They've already named the dogs Red, Horton, Pinson, Sandy, Mona Lisa and Faith, who was the runt of the litter.
"We're here to serve and protect. I feel that day we protected the lives of the puppies," said Officer Chan.
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