LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The man accused of dousing nine two-week-old puppies in chemicals before putting them in a dumpster planned on selling them, according to his neighbor.
Michael Grindrod faces five animal cruelty charges. He was at Clark County Justice Court Tuesday morning for his preliminary hearing.
According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Report, Grindrod told officers he placed the puppies in a garbage bag and sprayed them with a combination of bleach and Fabuloso before putting them in an apartment complex dumpster near Charleston and Jones earlier this month.
The puppies were then rescued by apartment complex workers.
One of the puppies had to be euthanized, the eight remaining pups have been reunited with their mom and are recovering in a foster home, according to Wagging Tails Rescue.
Before any of this happened, Jerel Colon says he attempted to buy one of the puppies from Grindrod.
Colon says Grindrod was his neighbor and maintenance worker. He says they had a casual friendship.
He says when Grindrod’s dog, Zoey, had puppies, Grindrod asked if he’d like to buy one.
“I talked to the man about it, and he said we can pick whichever one we want,” Colon said.
Colon says Grindrod also asked him to check with other neighbors and friends to see if they were interested in buying one of the puppies, but he says Grindrod didn’t seem panicked about getting rid of them, saying he would handle it if he couldn’t find any other buyers.
“Take them some place, he didn’t say shelter, but that’s what I’m assuming most people would do if they had dogs and couldn’t take care of them,” Colon said.
Colon says he sent Grindrod $200 and waited for Grindrod’s “OK” to pick the puppy up in a couple of weeks.
“When they got a little older and they could fend on their own without mom, that was the plan,” Colon said.
That message never came.
According to a Metro police report, Grindrod said he couldn’t take care of all of the puppies but didn’t want them to suffer, “expediting” the process by covering them in chemicals.
“Would I like to know why? Personally, yes,” Colon says.
The apartment complex owner said Grindrod had just been fired and evicted after failing a drug test. Colon thinks he might have panicked.
“If it is what it is, then I hope he learns, and just does better, really. Because, that could have been easily handled the right way,” Colon says.
Grindrod is due back in court on December 3.
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