MARINERS HARBOR — A dog-loving Staten Island woman called 911 to report an "abandoned baby" in her neighborhood, but failed to tell cops it was a puppy, according to a report.
Candice A. Salvatore, 27, called the police on Tuesday afternoon after finding an emaciated pit bull near a former train trestle.
But, instead of making it clear she'd found an animal, she told the dispatcher she'd discovered a "baby," the Staten Island Advance reported.
"I wasn't thinking that they would think it was an actual infant," Salvatore, 27, told the Advance. "I didn't tell her it was a human baby. I just said it was a baby."
When cops arrived on scene, she reportedly told an officer that "I needed to spice it up to get you guys to come faster," according to the Advance.
Salvatore denied telling the officer she needed to spice up her call. She was charged with two misdemeanors — second-degree reckless endangerment and third-degree falsely reporting an incident, the Advance said.
She received a summons and is due in court at a later date. She also received medical attention after the incident because she couldn't breathe and was suffering from pneumonia, the Advance reported.
Salvatore and neighbors discovered the pit bull near Erastina Place, and told the Advance she originally tried to call 311 to reach Animal Care and Control, but was hung up on.
Representatives from 311 told the paper that Salvatore did call, but was not hung up on, and Animal Care and Control said they had no record of her call.
The Advance reported that one of Salvatore's neighbors gave the dog a home.
