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Pontiac man who left dead puppies on shelter porch says it was terrible accident

Posted at 8:56 PM, Oct 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-23 07:56:50-04

The man who left dead puppies on the porch of the Michigan Animal Rescue League has come forward to tell his side of the story.

After a neighbor of the man seen in the surveillance video saw the story on Action News, the owner of the puppies was contacted. Ronald Fleming approached 7 Action News to explain what happened.

Fleming says his mother's funeral was on Saturday and after burying her and attending a family dinner, he returned home and went down to his basement to check on the nine puppies he owned.

He says he heard whimpering and found that the lid of the sump pump had come loose and eight of the puppies had climbed inside. He says he was able to rescue one, but the other seven drowned. 

Fleming says it was late Saturday night and he didn't know what to do. He was distraught and brought the puppies to the rescue shelter so their bodies could be properly disposed of, he said. 

He is sorry for upsetting people. He says it was a terrible accident on a difficult day and that he loves his animals.