(Radio Iowa) – A man from the East Coast is now charged with leaving his dog tied up in freezing weather outside the Des Moines International Airport. An airport worker found the one-year-old brown and white female dog leashed to a pole outside the airport on December 29th with no food, water or protection from the frigid temperatures. Des Moines police say the dog most certainly would have died.

Reports say the owner, identified as 24-year-old Charles Bigsen of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t have the proper kennel for the dog, and left it so he could board a cross-country flight. Police are charging Bigsen with animal abandonment and animal neglect. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says once the dog, which they’ve named Allie, is spayed and micro-chipped, it’ll be placed up for adoption.