He dumped Daisy the dog into a dumpster while in a cage, cops say. Now he’s in a cage

A 43-year-old man has been charged with dumping a 6-month-old pit bull mixed puppy into a dumpster on June 11, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office says Earl LaFrance, left the dog in a dumpster at the Speedway store at 11002 State Road 64 E., in East Manatee.

Investigators followed the trail from a previous complaint about a dog that was being kept inside of a garage at the nearby Lost Creek Apartments in Lakewood Ranch where LaFrance was a resident, as well as video evidence from the gas station.

Deputies say the video shows LaFrance placing a large item in the dumpster.

The puppy was rescued by two Waste Management workers just before she was dumped into their truck where she would have likely been crushed to death. She was transported to Manatee County Animal Services where she was evaluated and determined to be in good health despite her ordeal.

Animal Services named her Daisy and she quickly became a media star as she romped and played for the cameras.

Daisy found her forever home a few days ago. Her new family preferred to remain anonymous given the media attention surrounding Daily, but left this statement for the public: “We want to keep the focus on her ... We are looking forward to getting her into a normal routine.”

According to a press release issued Wednesday morning, LaFrance has a lengthy criminal history and outstanding warrants from Bay County. Deputies began a surveillance operation on LaFrance on June 13 and followed him into Sarasota County where he was arrested on those warrants.

MCSO continued the investigation while LaFrance was in custody in Bay County and developed probable cause to charge him with animal abandonment.

This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 10:23 AM.