Woman was prevented from boarding a plane with her dog due to documentation problems and, according to the police, took an “extreme and tragic measure”
A Florida woman has been arrested after drowning her dog in the bathroom at Orlando International Airport . Police say Alison Lawrence, 57, committed the crime after being told she could not board an international flight with her dog .
The incident took place on December 16, 2024. Lawrence, a resident of Kenner, Louisiana, was planning to travel to Colombia with her white miniature Schnauzer, Tywinn. However, documentation issues prevented the dog from being accepted on the flight.
Security camera footage captured the moment the woman entered the bathroom in the check-in area with the dog. Less than 20 minutes later, she left the place without the animal, according to The Guardian.
Shortly after, a cleaning employee found the dog’s body inside a trash can. According to the report, he had already seen Lawrence in the bathroom, cleaning water and food from the floor.
The dog was wearing a vest, collar, rabies vaccination tag and an identification tag with the owner’s name and phone number. Investigators confirmed the animal’s identity through a microchip. A necropsy revealed that Tywinn died of drowning, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Lawrence boarded a flight to Bogotá, Colombia, and then continued on to Ecuador, according to information from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
After an investigation, police concluded that Lawrence took “an extreme and tragic measure in killing the dog,” according to a statement to ABC7. She was arrested in Lake County, Florida, and charged with aggravated animal abuse, a third-degree felony. Her bail was set at $5,000, and she will remain free on bail.
