Police search for suspect who left 9 Chihuahuas for dead

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - Nine Chihuahuas are recovering after someone dumped them in an alleyway in St. Petersburg Tuesday.

St. Pete police investigators say someone called 911 around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday about the dogs, which were matted together in a cage.

Police turned the dogs over to a non-profit animal rescue group who is caring for the dogs.

Jaime McKnight runs Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue. She says it looks like the dogs have suffered for years.

"It's heartbreaking. You [have] little dogs where the little nails are grown into their paws, they're filthy, they're covered in feces, they've got urine burns," McKnight described.

Police found the dogs stuffed in a small cage in an alleyway off 15th Street North. Police think the dogs came from an unlicensed Chihuahua breeder.

St. Pete police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez says police probably won't be able to catch whoever is responsible due to lack of surveillance video and witnesses.

"It's really hard. We have no witnesses. It would have to come down to someone who knows who did this," Fernandez said.

Meanwhile, McKnight already knows the dogs' medical bills will drain her non-profit's funds.

She says they are doing what's right because someone else didn't.

"I think they are heartless, they're monsters and it's days like this that you really do hate the human race and that's just the truth," she said.