LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A three-month-old puppy was abandoned in a restroom at a Las Vegas airport over the weekend, and a woman said the note his owner left behind broke her heart.
Chewy is a three-month-old miniature chihuahua. With him in the airport bathroom was a handwritten note, reading: "My owner was in an abusive relationship and couldn't afford to get me on the flight. She didn't want to leave me with all her heart, but she has no other option."
Someone found Chewy and he ended up in the hands of a dog rescue.
"I cried," Darlene Blair with Connor and Millie Rescue said.
Blair said Chewy is doing much better.
"This one really got to me. You could tell by the way the note was written that the woman was in dire stress and she didn't want to give him up and she couldn't take him with her," Blair said.
This case highlights the unintended consequences of domestic violence.
"There's absolutely an option out there," Lori Nelson with Noah's Animal House said.
Noah's Animal House is a safe place that works to keep sheltered women and children near their pets. The boarding house in Las Vegas has helped more than 1,000 pets over 10 years.
"The animal is equally a member the family as anyone else, and it's vital that when you're leaving a domestic violence situation, that your pet can come with you," Nelson said.
"I know it's hard when you're in that situation to trust someone, but there are good people out there -- and if you're in that situation and you need help to take your dog with you, try not to be too afraid to ask for help," Blair said.
Airport officials are reminding pet owners that the airport is no place to leave an animal, since you don't know when or who might pick it up.
