Pictures and information posted on WHIO-TV's Facebook page led to charges being filed on Saturday against a man and a woman from Piqua in connection with the abandonment of four puppies near Piqua late Friday morning. 

Miami County Deputy Sarah Fraley confirms that Steven Bixler, 29, Piqua has been charged with four counts of abandoning animals and two counts of animal cruelty.  A girlfriend, Shonda Lee, 36, Piqua, the actual owner of Labrador puppies, was cited with one count of animal cruelty by the Sheriff’s Dept. and charged by the county dog warden for failure to license the mother dog. 

Both Bixler and Lee were located after a citizen called Miami County 911 Center and the Miami County Animal Shelter Saturday morning after recognizing the puppies.  Fraley said both people were cooperative.   Lee has also agreed to surrender the adult female dog to the Animal Shelter on Tuesday.

Bixler told deputies that instead of taking the puppies to the Animal Shelter, he dumped them to escape paying a fee.  What he did not know, according to Marcia Doncaster, Executive Director of the Animal Shelter, is that there is no fee to give up a dog to them. 

Friday morning, Deputy Fraley, who is assigned to the Miami County Park District, was on foot patrol at the Farrington Reserve when she heard the puppies yipping and a car speeding away.  Two of the puppies were dropped 15 feet over a Peterson Road bridge guard rail along the bank of the Great Miami River.  The other two Labs were left on the roadside. 

The scene is about three miles north of the Miami County Animal Shelter.  Doncaster estimated the age of the pups at eight to nine weeks.  The two males and two females were checked by a veterinarian.  One was held at the vet’s office for observation.  The other three were returned to the Animal Shelter. 

Neither Lee nor Bixler were booked into the Miami County Jail.  They will be summoned to appear in Miami County Municipal Court at a later date. 

All four puppies are expected to survive and be adoptable.

The shelter has been "flooded" with calls from people wanting to adopt them.