A woman who tethered her poodle to a stop sign while shopping was charged with animal cruelty, police reported.

Leslie Ann Breda, 50, of 178 Capitol Hill Drive, was charged and then released on personal recognizance bail of $1,500 pending arraignment June 27 in Derry District Court, police reported.

Police noticed the dog tied to a stop sign in the parking lot outside Marshalls department store on the morning of May 27, and saw that the dog was standing in the "well traveled" roadway, where one car nearly backed over the black poodle.

A store employee told police that the owner disregarded her warning that it wouldn’t be a safe place to leave the dog.

Breda, told police she had tied her dog to the sign so she could go into the store, and expected the dog would stay on the nearby traffic island, which had a shrub and bark mulch.

Update 8/30/06:

Breda was fined $250 for treating her pet cruelly during Memorial Day weekend as she shopped.

Reference:

The Eagle-Tribune

The Union Leader

The Nashua Telegraph