WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Florida woman allegedly drowned a two-week-old doberman in a US airport toilet because she wasn't allowed to board a flight with the puppy, media reports said on Monday.

Cynthia Anderson, 56, was arrested on Friday on animal abuse charges, The Grand Island Independent newspaper said.

Anderson tried to board a flight at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport with three puppies and two dogs, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

But she was denied access to the plane because the three puppies were too young to fly, said the Grand Island police. They were also not properly contained. The two older dogs were cleared to travel.

The puppies were believed to be three weeks old or younger. Dogs must be at least eight weeks old to fly.

The Orlando Sentinel quoted Grand Island Police Captain Dean Elliott as saying: "Their eyes weren't even open."

Two of the puppies were picked up by the woman's parents, the Sentinel reported Capt Elliott as saying. But he did not know why the third puppy wasn't picked up.

The police said that she had tried to conceal the third puppy in her carry-on luggage.

Grand Island Police Sergeant Stan Steele told the newspaper that it appeared the woman then took the little dog to an airport bathroom, where she allegedly drowned it in a toilet bowl.

"The cause of death was determined to be drowning," Sgt Steele told the newspaper.

A woman had reported finding the dead Doberman puppy in the toilet after Anderson had gone in, the Sentinel reported.

The other puppies are being taken care of by animal welfare officers, it added.

Anderson has a criminal record starting from dating back to 2010, according to the Sentinel.

According to court records, she was arrested in 2010 and fined for retail theft, before accumulating other robbery-related charges.

In 2011, she was given six months' probation for grand theft, say records.

Last year, she was again sentenced to six months' probation for battery and trespassing, the Sentinal quoted records as showing.