38 Dogs recovered from home of woman who allegedly ditched puppies in Coachella dumpster

A Coachella woman is behind bars on suspicion of throwing seven newborn puppies in a dumpster. Animal services recovered nearly 40 additional dogs from that woman’s home.

“We came back to this address, here on Third Street, and investigated and spoke with the suspect’s mother who confirmed in the video that that was in fact her daughter,” said Chris Mayer, Comander of Field Operations for Riverside County Animal Services.

Mayers arrested 54-year-old Deborah Sue Culwell. Culwell told Mayer she was overhwhelmed with her pets.

Neighbors watched the arrest unfold.

“We saw the cops get here and go into the house and take her [suspect] out and then she was just banging her head on the window saying she didn’t want to get in,” said one witness, Angely Ambriz.

Culwell is facing seven counts of felony animal control and a kennel violation. Mayer says Coachella residents must have the proper permit if they own more than 4 pets.

“You can imagine, it looks like a house that has 30 dogs inside. We’re impounding them because there’s nobody here to take care of them and there’s a lot of them in a small residence and it’s juts not good living conditions,” said Mayer.