UPDATE: Salinas abandoned dog’s finder admits to making up story, humane officers say

UPDATE 8/3/15: About two weeks after Pierre, a 6-week-old Chihuahua was reportedly left abandoned without food or water in a Salinas alley, the woman who reported the incident confessed she made up the entire story.

Human officers with the SPCA for Monterey County said they started to notice discrepancies in the woman’s story and contacted her for more information, where she confessed the original story was not true.

Humane officers then learned the woman said she’d bought Pierre from a homeless person and when she was unable to find a home for the dog, she surrendered him to the SPCA.

The SPCA said the woman was counseled on the ramifications of lying to law enforcement and she apologized.

The SPCA said Pierre is thriving and has an adoptive family waiting for him.

$1,000 reward offered for information on abandoned Salinas puppy

PREVIOUS STORY: A 6-week-old Chihuahua was found stuffed in a purse pet carrier with no access to food or water in an alley way in Oldtown Salinas, according to the SPCA for Monterey County.

A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for abandoning the puppy behind Patria on Main Street in Salinas on or around July 19.

The SPCA said a Good Samaritan visiting from out of town, found the puppy hungry, thirsty and crying around 10 p.m. Sunday. The person took the puppy to their hotel room and fed him, then brought him to the SPCA on Tuesday.

The SPCA said the puppy had nails painted red before he was found. For now, the SPCA is caring for the puppy they are calling Pierre.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the SPCA at 831-373-2631 or report information online at spcamc.org.