A Minneapolis woman charged with animal cruelty for allegedly attempting to mail a 4-month-old puppy to Atlanta will go to trial this summer.
Stacey Champion, 39, will stand trial July 7 in Hennepin County District Court , according to her attorney, University of Minnesota law professor Steve Simon. Simon and one of his students will represent Champion.
Champion, who was in court for a hearing on Wednesday, has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. They stem from late January, when she allegedly paid $22 to send the black poodle-Schnauzer mix named Guess to Georgia via priority mail. The dog was to be a birthday gift for her 11-year-old son.
Champion told postal employees the box contained a toy robot, but they noticed the box move and heard the dog pant. The dog likely would have died in the airplane's frigid cargo hold.
She attended an administrative hearing in hopes of getting the dog back but was turned down. The dog was eventually adopted by a woman picked by about 50 potential owners who wanted to take the dog home.
ABBY SIMONS
