If my heart had eyes it would be sobbing loudly over what could have been a fiery fate for 27 puppies in Las Vegas. A pet store owner accused of torching her shop while the puppies were inside has been jailed for arson — and yes, firefighters were able to rescue the puppies. Sigh, there go my heart eyes again.

Now that we know the puppies are safe — they were turned over to an animal shelter to await adoption after the incident on Jan. 27 — we can move on.

The owner was taken to jail today with a bail set at $310,000, which is up from the original $40,000, reports the Associated Press in a story today.

She’s been charged with 31 counts of arson, conspiracy, burglary and attempted animal cruelty for the incident, which another AP story from yesterday says the crime involved an accused accomplice as well. Police are still looking for him.

Authorities say store security videos showed the owner letting the man into the store a little before 1 a.m. back in January. He was carrying red gasoline cans, officials say, and the woman is seen collecting files from the store while he splashes liquid from the cans all over the place, including (ugh) on the puppy cages. He then allegedly lights the liquid with a flaming newspaper.

Law enforcement officials say the store’s sprinkler system helped keep the puppies from perishing until rescuers could save them from the flames.

“This case could have been much more than property damage and potential injury to puppies,” the County District Attorney said, adding that the fire could have hurt or killed people and damaged nearby businesses.

Again, the puppies are safe. All 27 pairs of trusting, big eyes, all 27 wagging tails… Okay, I’ll stop. But whew.

Owner jailed in arson case involving puppy shop [Associated Press]
(Suspect) Allegedly Wanted To Burn Down Pet Shop With 27 Puppies Inside [Associated Press]

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