Authorities are looking for a foster home for a chocolate Labrador retriever they say a Texas man abandoned Friday afternoon at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Omar Orlando Perez, 42, of Robstown, Texas, was charged Tuesday with animal cruelty and dog abandonment after he left the animal — a puppy whose age and name remain unknown — at the Findlay airport about 5 p.m., according to a criminal complaint.
Perez told police the pet, which he received as a Christmas gift, was accompanying him as he drove across the country.
But Perez recently was fired from that truck-driving job, the complaint said. He booked a ticket on a Southwest Airlines flight back to his native Texas — but couldn’t afford to bring along his four-legged companion.
Southwest’s one-way carry-on pet charge is $125 per carrier, according to its website.
Perez initially approached police officers inside the terminal who were looking for the dog’s owner, the complaint said. He told them he saw a rideshare driver ditch the dog at the airport’s public departures curb, where the dog was found wandering, according to the complaint.
Video footage, however, showed otherwise.
Surveillance cameras captured Perez getting out of an Uber, followed by the dog, the complaint said. The puppy circled Perez and “stayed with him the entire time that he was loading his baggage onto a baggage cart.”
Perez then tried to walk through a sliding door, the complaint said. The dog followed, making “several attempts to follow Perez.” Perez then “chased the dog away from the terminal sliding door three times” before he entered the building without it.
Perez later confessed to police he left his pet behind, the complaint said.
Police released Perez after interviewing him and did not know his whereabouts Tuesday, said Jim Madalinsky, an Allegheny County Police spokesman.
He will be charged by mail. Perez has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 27 in Findlay, court records show. His attorney was not listed Tuesday in online court records.
Perez could not be reached for comment.
The dog is in good health, county police said Tuesday.
Abandonments
Travelers have abandoned animals at the airport before.
Police charged two people in 2023 after they left dogs there. Madalinsky said Friday’s incident was the first of its kind reported this year.
In August 2023, a traveler abandoned a French bulldog after being told the pet needed to be in a crate to fly.
Police found the Armstrong County woman they said abandoned the dog — Allison Lyn Gaiser, then 44, of East Franklin — and charged her with a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and summary counts of neglect of animals, cruelty to animals and abandonment, according to court records.
Gaiser later paid a $150 fine after negotiating a guilty plea on one of the charges, court records show.
In November 2023, someone left a chihuahua-mix dog, which appeared to be in good condition, tied to a pole in the short-term parking garage. That also led to an arrest.
“The message is: Just plan ahead,” Madalinsky told TribLive. “If you want to travel with a pet, have a plan. Abandoning it is not an option. We will investigate you. And we will file charges.”
