After police discovered two dead beagles inside of plastic bags in Selkirk, Bethlehem police say several individuals and a not-for-profit are putting up reward money to find those responsible.
There is now a $7,500 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of the two beagle dogs, according to a release.
Police said investigators along with the Bethlehem Animal Control Officer Richard Watt are currently investing the case as two animal cruelty incidents after an examination revealed that the animals were kicked to death before being left on the side of the road.
`As employees of the Town’s Highway Department were removing debris located alongside the roadway they found two plastic bags, one black and one blue, which had dead dogs in them,` according to a release from Bethlehem Police. `Due to the condition of the dogs, it appears they were left at different times. The dogs are both described as beagles, one being a white and brown female and the second a tri-colored male.`
One of the dogs was transported to the Five Rivers Environmental and Education Center in New Scotland to be examined by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone.
Police said Stone determined the trauma that caused the death of the beagle was `consistent with the dog being kicked to death.`
Stone told Spotlight Newspapers that the beagle he examined was found to have abdominal trauma and heavy internal hemorrhaging, but that there were no broken bones. These are consistent with an `abdominal hit,` he said.
He also said the dog wasn’t along the road for very long and that it was fed before being killed, probably the day it was found on Wednesday, March 11.
`It wasn’t long, it had just consumed some Kibble shortly before death and it [Kibble] was still wet and undigested,` he said. `It was fed and died shortly thereafter.`
Stone added that the dog’s body was not frozen and that he did not examine the second dog that was found in the same area of Clapper and Weisheit roads in Selkirk.
Bethlehem police are asking anyone with information about the incidents to contact the police department at 439-9973, as the case is still ongoing.
For more on this story return to www.spotlightnews.com or read the Wednesday, March 18, print edition of The Spotlight.
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