Woman Drowned Her Dog In Florida Airport Bathroom After It Was Denied Boarding: Police

Woman accused of killing dog in bathroom at Orlando International Airport

A Florida woman has been arrested after an animal was found dead in a bathroom at Orlando International Airport, according to police.

A Florida woman has been arrested and charged with aggravated animal abuse after police say she drowned her dog at the airport.

Alison Agatha Lawrence, who was arrested Tuesday, was at the Orlando International Airport with her small white dog named Tywinn on Dec. 16, 2024, and headed for Colombia, according to an an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by USA TODAY on Thursday.

An employee later found Tywinn's body in a bathroom trash in an area before security. Investigators believe the dog was denied boarding the international flight due to improper paperwork.

Lawrence was arrested in Lake County, Florida, charged with the third-degree felony and released on a $5,000 bond later Tuesday, jail records show.

Her attorney information was not immediately available and her listed phone number appears to be disconnected.

Lawrence was flying to Colombia, according to information investigators obtained from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which requires specific paperwork when traveling with a dog. Surveillance footage showed the defendant talking with the agent at the Latam airline ticket counter for 15 minutes. Footage described in the record shows her walking into a bathroom nearby with the dog and leaving approximately 15 minutes later without the dog.

The employee who found the dog told police she had come to the bathroom during her cleaning routine and found a woman, later identified as Lawrence, in the handicapped stall. The employee said the woman was on her knees on the floor cleaning up "a lot of water and a lot of dog food from the floor."

The employee later returned to the stall when it was empty and, upon trying to take the trash bag out of the wall, found it heavier than usual, she told police. It was then she said she found the dog.

Police said the dog "appeared to be extremely wet."

A necropsy found the dog's cause of death was drowning.

"Killing a dog is illegal and morally wrong unless there is a justifiable reason and it is performed humanely," the affidavit concludes. "Killing a dog for convenience (such as not being able to take it overseas) is not a legal defense."

Tywinn's microchip registration showed he was a 9-year-old miniature schnauzer.