LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Road crews found two dead dogs in a plastic bag along the side of a Niagara County road last week. Now, the reward to find the person responsible for their deaths and bring them to justice is growing.
“It certainly does point to something very, very strange," says Dr. Chris Brown with Niagara SPCA.
Two young dogs, found dead in a trash bag on the side of a Niagara County road have investigators puzzled. Now, they are turning to you for help.
"It could be a neighbor that noticed that they had two dogs one day and the dogs have been missing for a while. Anything from the public can help us," says Niagara SPCA investigator Ryan Scott.
A road crew found the dogs, both females - a four-year-old wire-haired terrier and a two-year-old Lhasa Apso - last Thursday on Wilson Road in the Town of Lockport. Investigators think they were probably someone's pets. They were being fed, but had overgrown nails.
"Unfortunately, neither of the dogs had microchips. Neither of them had collars and tags on. One had a flea collar on, but unfortunately there's no serial numbers on there, so we can't trace it back," says Scott.
One of the dogs had some singed fur, but the veterinarian who did the necropsy says the dogs weren't burned to death.
"I didn't see overall any cuts, lacerations, bullet holes, anything like that. Everything was intact. No bleeding, so overall, they were in fairly good condition," says Dr. Brown.
The cause of death remains a mystery. Dr. Brown says it's possible they were poisoned. The pot of reward money for information leading to a conviction is growing. With people giving from Seattle to Syracuse, Scott says it's now close to $9,000. If the person is caught, Scott says they would at least be charged with a misdemeanor based on the condition of the dogs.
"There's no provisions in New York State on how you dispose of your dog once it's deceased, but we find it a little suspicious that a two-year-old dog and a four-year-old dog both had passed at the same time and they were dumped that way. And, unfortunately, with no microchip, no leads, there's nothing we can really go on," says Scott.
If you'd like to help, there are two ways you can do that. If you know something about what happened to the dogs, you can call the Niagara County Sheriff's Office at 716-438-3327 or Niagara SPCA at 716-731-4368 x311. You don't have to leave your name. And, if you'd like to contribute to the reward fund, Crimestoppers is coordinating that. The number to call to donate is 716-867-6161.