Authorities say they responded after getting reports from motorists who saw the girl riding in the back of the truck in the cage.
Two parents face charges after authorities say motorists spied a 10-year-old girl riding in a dog cage in the back of a pickup truck in western Pennsylvania.
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports police say it happened around 7 p.m. Monday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Millvale, just outside Pittsburgh.
Authorities say they responded after getting reports from motorists who saw the girl riding in the back of the truck in the cage.
Her mother, 29-year-old Abbey Carlson, and stepfather, 30-year-old Thomas Fishinger, are now facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child. Police say they told them the girl had said she wanted to be with the dog.
Today, the couple spoke about the incident to KDKA in Pittsburgh, claiming it was all a misunderstanding. See video of the interview here.
The parents said their daughter likes to play in the cage with her dog. So, when the dog started to cry during the drive home they let her climb in.
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. We weren’t going fast. We weren’t,” Carlson said.
“It was back there because we knew that it was three of us, so we couldn’t put the dog inside the cab,” Fishinger said.