Charge: Mpls. woman tried to mail live puppy in sealed box

The woman put the 4-month-old puppy in a sealed box and paid to have it shipped by priority mail to Georgia. Postal workers became suspicious about the contents when started moving after the woman left.

A live puppy was sealed up in a box for air-mailing to Atlanta from downtown Minneapolis with no food or water, a potentially deadly act that has led to a 39-year-old woman being charged with animal cruelty.

The 4-month-old Schnauzer and poodle mix -- a male Schnoodle named "Guess" -- was brought to the post office on 12th Street North last Tuesday afternoon in a box that was wrapped entirely in packing tape that covered air holes, said Police Sgt. Angela Dodge.

Had the box been sent on its way, said Police Sgt. William Palmer, the puppy would have been put in an airplane's unheated and non-pressurized cargo hold.

"The Postal Service told us the dog would not have made it [alive]," Palmer said. "I've been doing this for 17 years. This is a new one on me."

The woman, Stacey Champion, who lives a few blocks away, paid $22 for her puppy to be sent to Georgia by priority mail, said Thompson Ojoyeyi, supervisor at the Loring Station post office.

Ojoyeyi said that a clerk asked Champion the standard questions about the box's contents, which was being shipped as a gift for a relative: whether there was anything perishable, liquid, hazardous, etc. She responded no.

However, "she did tell the clerk that the package may make some sounds because it contained a toy robot," said Postal Service spokesman Peter Nowacki.

Ojoyeyi recalled that the woman cautioned postal workers to " 'be careful, be careful' " as they handled the box because "it was so delicate."

After Champion left, the workers noticed that the box was moving.

"People were kind of really scared," Ojoyeyi said. "It was really moving. We tried to listen, and the thing was breathing. And the way it was breathing, we knew it was likely to be a puppy."

Postal workers contacted the postal inspectors -- the Postal Service's enforcement arm -- because they needed approval to open priority mail.

Once getting the OK, the box was opened and the "black and very small" dog was discovered, Ojoyeyi said.

"I gave water to the puppy," he said. "It drank it really fast."

Champion was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty and has 10 days from being cited to appeal. The dog is now at the city's animal control facility. If Champion declines or loses her appeal, Guess would go up for adoption.

A telephone message was left for Champion seeking comment about the allegation.

Nowacki said that certain live animals can be mailed legally. In particular, it's common to mail chicks and ducklings, he said. The mailing of dogs and most other warm-blooded mammals, however, is not legal.

Ojoyeyi said the box had a return address on it that was from out of state but had her name.

After the postal inspector contacted Champion, she returned to the post office a few hours later and demanded a refund for the $22 she paid to have the box mailed, Ojoyeyi said. She also wanted back a small amount of paper currency she had attached to a makeshift collar around the dog's neck. He said her demand was rejected.

" 'I don't care about the package, you can keep the package,' " Ojoyeyi recalled her saying. "Her concern was the money and the postage."