US: Mysterious dog deaths rattle community
Nine dead dogs – four of them decapitated – have been discovered by shocked residents in a semi-rural community near Detroit.
The dogs were abandoned on the roadside in Superior Township along with piles of skinned wild animals, mostly foxes and coyotes.
The first one found, a headless Rottweiler, had its legs bound with duct tape.
Despite a reward that has swelled to at least £10,000 (€14,300) with donations from community members, officials have so far been unable to determine even who the dogs belonged to.
The mysterious dog deaths – now being investigated separately from the deaths of the wild animals – have rattled this picturesque Washtenaw County township, dominated by fields and wooded preserves and dotted with old, red barns.
Residents are keeping a close eye on their pets, and some have voiced fears that whoever is capable of killing and mutilating dogs is a danger to humans as well.
Township resident Kim Hart said she fears Duke, her two-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, may have fallen victim to the dog killer or killers. He has been missing since February 16.
“There’s one really, really disturbed person out there, or a couple of disturbed people,” said Hart, 33. “I’m hoping, obviously, that he doesn’t have my dog.”
Officials initially believed that the dead dogs may have got caught in traps, but as more dogs have been discovered, that seems less likely, said Tanya Hilgendorf, the Humane Society’s executive director.
The nine dogs include three Rottweilers and three pit bulls. Hilgendorf noted that while both kinds of dogs can make good pets, they also are considered “bully breeds” and can be common “among young men who probably have aggressive tendencies". She declined to say whether that was considered significant to the investigation.
The remaining dogs are a terrier, a Labrador mix and a cocker spaniel.
Hilgendorf said none of the dogs bears signs that they were used in dogfighting and it’s not clear whether they are from the area.
Investigators have not matched any of the dogs with those on the Humane Society’s missing list. Hilgendorf said it’s hard to draw any conclusions from that, since the decapitations, as well as decomposition, makes identifying the dogs difficult.
Wilful and malicious infliction of injury to animals, including killing, is a felony in the United States, punishable by up to four years in prison and a £3,000 (€4,300) fine.
Until anyone is charged with the crimes, Hart is taking no chances with her remaining dog, 10-year-old Daisy, who is being kept on a chain.
“I don’t want to take a chance of anything happening and somebody just trying to grab her,” Hart said. “I’m just very protective, and this is exactly why.”
