Lab abandoned near LIE in Syosset gets new home; Owner, who tried to take pooch to shelter, charged

DEER PARK (WABC) -- A Deer Park woman is accused of abandoning her dog after a tracking chip linked it to the owner.

Amavilla Araujo, 44, is accused of leaving her yellow 8-year-old lab mix, Teddy, near a public road by the entrance to the Long Island Expressway in Syosset on February 10 after she was placed on a waiting list to turn the pooch over to a shelter.

Officials with Babylon Animal Shelter say they told her they could have placed Teddy in a proper home within a week and even called her to suggest rescue options, but it was too late.

When Teddy was found by passerby Hutch Effman, he had an injured foot and later needed to have his toe amputated.

"He very easily could've walked down that ramp right near the entrance to the LIE," he said. "It's sadness. There's no reason for things to come to that. This is a busy road, and he's a helpless animal."

Fortunately, the community and Jericho Animal Hospital stepped in.

"My faith was restored a bit when I saw the outpouring of support," Effman said.

A tracking device in Teddy linked him to Amavilla.

"Leaving an unleashed dog to roam free near a roadway is not only a crime, it is dangerous to motorists, to the public and to the animal involved," acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said. "I would like to thank the Good Samaritan who took care of the dog and brought this abandoned animal to the vet."

Teddy was adopted by the Magnani family in Cold Spring Harbor, and they couldn't be happier with their new addition.

"We did have a yellow lab that we loved, and we never thought we'd have another dog like him," Linda Magnani said. "But when we got Teddy, he's just the same, so we're crazy about him."

Still, they couldn't believe that someone would just leave him on the side of the road.

"I understand sometimes you want to get rid of, if you don't want an animal anymore, that's fine," Geogre Magnani said. "But I think February 10th...it was like 5 or 6 degrees out. How you can just throw a poor animal out on the street like that? And I believe they had him for awhile. I think it's just unconscionable."

Araujo was released and is due back in court May 18.