Trio faces animal cruelty charges after walking six puppies under blanket in heat advisory

Tomas Rodriguez, Naples Daily News
Updated ·1 min read
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Ernest Augustin, 38, of Immokalee, as well as Mariel Palominoca Campos, 24, and Yuniesky Campos Hartman, 42, both of Cape Coral, face animal cruelty misdemeanor charges after Naples police found them walking six puppies covered with a blanket.
Ernest Augustin, 38, of Immokalee, as well as Mariel Palominoca Campos, 24, and Yuniesky Campos Hartman, 42, both of Cape Coral, face animal cruelty misdemeanor charges after Naples police found them walking six puppies covered with a blanket.

A Southwest Florida trio faces animal cruelty charges after authorities say they walked six puppies with a blanket over them during a heat advisory.

Ernest Augustin, 38, of Immokalee, and Mariel Palominoca Campos, 24, and Yuniesky Campos Hartman, 42, both of Cape Coral, face animal cruelty misdemeanor charges.

Naples police said that around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to the Naples Pier area to the report of a city ordinance violation related to dogs on the beach.

Authorities said the reporting party alerted police that several individuals, later identified as Augustin, Palominoca Campos and Campos Hartman, were pulling a beach cart with several small puppies in it. The individuals were approaching beach-goers to sell the dogs, police noted.

Police said officers noted the dogs were covered with a blanket under a heat advisory.

Police said the temperature reached 110 degrees.

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Officers lifted the blanket off the dogs, revealing six puppies, police said. Two of the dogs had shallow breathing and were nearly unresponsive, appearing to be in distress, authorities noted.

Officers placed the dogs in a marked patrol vehicle with water and the air conditioning on high. After approximately 20 minutes, police said, the puppies seemed to recover from the heat and appeared in better health. Collier County Domestic Animal Services was contacted and took custody of the dogs for medical evaluation, authorities said.

"All suspects had the ability to stop, provide the dogs with water or shaded shelter, but none chose to do so," police said in a news release.

The trio is next due in court July 31 for their arraignments.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Trio faces animal cruelty charges after covering puppies with blanket