Two puppies skinned alive, dog stabbed in Missouri, police announce $5k reward for information on suspect
MARIES COUNTY, MISSOURI: On Thursday, August 27, some very tragic news about animal abuse took over the Internet. Maries County deputies started looking for a suspect who skinned two puppies near Belle in Missouri the previous week. The owner of one the dogs, Cory White, said that it was his daughter who had discovered that a puppy was still alive around 11.30 am. But when they took it to a veterinary clinic, they decided it was best to put the dog down. Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman said that they received White's report shortly after his return from the vet.
Heitman noted, "You could tell a knife had been used and it was pretty precision so it was something that took some time and something very cruel to do to anything, moreover a dog."
This was not the only case of abuse against a defenseless animal. The second dog, who had a portion of his tail hide removed, was found at a house only a short distance away from White's. Sheriff Heitman noted that two separate incidents of animal cruelty occurred in the Paydown, Missouri area near the 33000 block of Missouri Route 42.
After putting out a call for information on Facebook saying, "We have received reports of two dogs, puppies really, that have had portions of their hide skinned off of them. One of the animals, unfortunately, had to be put down by a veterinarian," authorities also added details about the act. "Both incidents occurred in the Paydown area of MCR 319 and the 33,000 block of Highway 42. If you have any information as to who may be responsible for these horrific acts of cruelty to a young animal please report it to us so this individual can be held accountable." Authorities can't be sure if the crimes against both the puppies have been committed by the same person or not, but they believe that the incidents are connected.
These now don't seem to be isolated incidents as even a third dog was stabbed. In the wake of the multiple attacks, authorities are making an attempt to nab the perpetrator soon. In an update on social media, the sheriff's office wrote, "an organization called Guardians of Rescue has kindly and generously offered a $5,000 reward for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the subject or subjects responsible for these horrendous attacks".
In the update, they detailed the injuries. "We are still working the investigation into the animal abuse outside of Belle where the dogs were skinned. We are investigating injuries to three dogs on the same date. Two animals were younger in age with their injuries resulting from someone skinning them, one so serious a vet had to euthanize the animal. Another dog, older than the other two, was stabbed. We are still attempting to see if they are related incidents."
The sheriff's office said they are urging anyone with information on these incidents to report it by calling the office's main line at 573-422-3381. There is no suspect information at the time of writing this article.