Puppy found discarded in garbage truck; arrest made

FLINT, Mich. (WNEM/Gray News) - An arrest has been made relating to a 2-week-old puppy who was pulled from the back of a garbage truck in Flint, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said.

Swanson gave an update on this case during a press conference on Friday which was about a separate animal abuse case. The puppy is recovering and is doing better, Swanson said.

The puppy was rescued from the garbage truck after it was left in a garbage bag on the side of the road.

A worker went into the back of the truck head-first to rescue the pup.

“I started hearing a sound, and I thought at first it could’ve been a rat or rodent,” said Bobby Brooks, a loader for Priority Waste.

However, what Brooks heard inside a trash bag along his pickup route in Flint on Wednesday was different.

“We seen the face of a puppy,” Brooks said.

He said the 2-week-old puppy was at the bottom of his truck. Video shows Brooks rescuing the animal.

“I was completely shocked, and my stomach kind of turned a little bit to see how someone would just throw a live animal away in the trash,” Brooks said.

While Brooks said he was shocked, relief also came to mind.

“If I didn’t notice it, and I pulled those levers, I could’ve been the one to hurt the animal, or kill it itself,” he said.

Trevor Manning, a driver for Priority Waste, was with Brooks. He said he has seen all sorts of things discarded but nothing like this.

“Just seeing this puppy get a chance. Because he has no say or anything. And they didn’t have to do that. He could’ve given it to someone, taken it to the animal control like we did, the humane society. But to throw it away in the trash? That’s crazy to me,” Manning said.

If the dog ends up being OK, Brooks said he is ready and willing to adopt it.

“I was looking forward to, you know, thinking about a lot that I also want an animal, I also want a puppy. And then one falls in my hopper, into my arms,” Brooks said.

The CEO of Priority Waste Michigan announced that he will pay for the puppy’s vet bills.

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