Armstrong County woman charged with abandoning dog at Pittsburgh airport

Allegheny County Police charged an Armstrong County woman with cruelty to animals and other offenses, saying she abandoned a dog at Pittsburgh International Airport earlier this month.

Police announced Thursday that charges were filed against Allison Lyn Gaiser, 44, of East Franklin.

They said investigators determined Gaiser intentionally abandoned a dog near the airport’s short-term parking lot before getting on a flight Aug. 4 to a resort in Mexico.

The dog, a brown-and-white male French bulldog, was found unattended in a stroller about 5:30 a.m. that day. It wore a dog license and had an identification microchip.

According to a criminal complaint, a county police officer found the dog sitting in the stroller outside the moving walkway enclosure next to glass exit doors in the short-term parking lot.

The dog was not restrained. A bag of dog food was found in a bowl under the stroller, but there was no water.

In the complaint, an officer said he has seen several pets get away from their owners in the airport’s parking lots and surrounding areas. While police look for them, some remained lost or were killed after being hit by a vehicle.

The microchip revealed the owner’s name as Alicia Gaiser, with two phone numbers and two emergency contacts with numbers. Police said they were not able to reach anyone at any of the numbers.

Police found a Facebook page for Gaiser which had pictures of her with the dog.

Police said a review of surveillance cameras showed Gaiser pushing the dog in the stroller as she entered the moving walkway from the long-term parking lot about 4:23 a.m. She went to an airline ticket counter.

According to the complaint, an airline employee told police that Gaiser tried to bring the dog with her on a flight, but the dog was denied boarding as it did not meet the criteria for an emotional support animal and did not have a proper kennel as required.

According to the complaint, after going to the ticket counter, Gaiser is seen pushing the dog in the stroller back toward the moving walkway. At 4:50 a.m., she is seen heading to the area where the dog was later found and a minute later went back into the landside terminal and to the ticket counter without the dog or stroller.

A county police sergeant was waiting for Gaiser when she returned to the airport about 12:30 a.m. Aug. 10. Police said she admitted to leaving the dog behind because the airline would not let it on the plane because it wasn’t an emotional support animal, and said she made arrangements with her mother to pick up the dog at the airport.

Although Gaiser allowed police to review text messages between herself and her mother, police said it was apparent that no immediate arrangement was made for her mother to pick up the dog from the airport.

In an interview Aug. 10, police said Gaiser’s mother told them she only found out about her “grand doggie” being left at the airport on Aug. 5, when Gaiser’s ex-husband shared a news story about the dog.

In addition to the misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals, county police charged Gaiser with summary counts of neglect of animals, cruelty to animals and abandonment, according to court records.

Gaiser did not have an attorney listed in court records. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16.

The dog has been in the care of Animal Friends. County police said the dog is doing well and is in a foster home.