NYPD rescues puppies after woman illegally sold them inside a bag: VIDEO

QUEENS - Puppies have been rescued after officers saw a woman was illegally selling them inside a hot bag in Queens, the NYPD said.

At approximately 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, officers were on Beach Channel Drive and Horton Avenue when they found a woman attempting to purchase a puppy from another woman at the location. 

"She came out and another individual stopped her. She asked her, you know she said what a nice dog. What a cute puppy. What are you doing with it? And she said I'm selling them," Officer Lukasz said. "She went further into saying that I have the rest of them in the bag."

Police said when the would-be buyer asked if there were any other puppies for sale, the officers observed the seller retrieve a sack and heard her state there were more dogs inside.

Officer Glickman then arrived at the scene. 

Police then took the sack which was tied shut. When an officer cut the bag open, there were five pitbull puppies inside. 

"I tried my best to open up the top of the bag and this tiny little snout came through the top of the bag," Glickman said. "I couldn't get the rest of it open. I took my knife, cut the bag open and that's when five other puppies came flooding out."

"Thankfully, the distressed puppies were rescued before they were seriously injured," the NYPD posted on X.

Police then arrested the woman, identified as Shirley Medina.

Medina was seen walking around the Dollar General before this happened. 

"I turned my head woman selling puppies. Yo that’s crazy newborn puppies. Nah what??" Dollar General store employee Chris Pimentel said.

Police said the dogs were taken to the ASPCA in Manhattan to be evaluated.

"Our job is to serve and protect and I feel like that day we protected the lives of the puppies," an officer said.

Medina has been charged with six counts of torturing and injuring an animal, six counts of neglect of impounded animal, and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.