Woman Arrested After Neglected Dog Is Left At Long Island Clinic

Authorities arrested a Hempstead woman Thursday in connection with a dog found abandoned with skin lesions and trauma outside a Long Island veterinary clinic on Wednesday.

Numerous tips lead to the arrest of Tamara Copeland, 56, after authorities released surveillance video of a person leaving Nino, a poodle-mix dog with open wounds and bloody bandages, on a small bed outside the entryway to the clinic on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney said.

Copeland faces charges of misdemeanor animal neglect and animal abandonment.  She was due to be arraigned later Thursday. A contact for her lawyer was not yet available, the spokesman said. 

Nino was identified because of a microchip implant. The dog's owner, who authorities say had received Nino from a family member in 2000, had reported it missing from her front yard more than a year ago.

The dog is expected to be reunited with its owner after it recovers.

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