Dogs decomposed bodies found along road
Manchester, MI (US)Date: Oct 9, 1999
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
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A state police trooper has cast doubts on widening fears that neighborhood dogs have fallen prey to animal cruelty.
Trooper Tim Coyen of the Ypsilanti post of the Michican State Police said four dogs were left at a site near Manchester when he investigated on Oct 9, not as many as a dozen, as an official with the Humane Society of Huron Valley reported last week.
Doyen, who patrols the Manchester area, said he initially investigated after an area woman said she found the animals along Bethel Church Road, east of M-52. The dogs were severely decomposed, but did not appear to have been tortured or killed in a ritualistic way, Doyen said.
"We do have dead dogs, yes. The means in which they died, no one knows," Doyen said. "But they were not mutilated, they were not chopped up."
Lois Thompson, executive director of the Humane Society of Huron Valley, said she made a mistake when she told a news reporter on Thursday that there were as many as a dozen dogs left in boxes and bags at the site. She said there acutally were six animals there when she investigated on Friday. That included four carcasses on the ground and two in a plastic bag, Thomspon said.
Thompson said an area man identified one of the dogs as his pet. Thompson said she planned to return to the site to bury the animals this week.
"We weren't trying to alarm anyone when we brought this up," she said. "We just wanted people to be aware that there's a lot of unanswered questions."
Doyen said he interviewed a few residents soon after he was first notified of the incident. He said he came up with no credible evidence of anyone who may have killed the animals or left home on the edge of the gravel pit.
Doyen said he's disturbed by what he believes was an exaggeration of the facts by workers at the non-profit, privately run agency.
Since the News reported the discovery of the animals last week, many residents have called to find out if their missing pets were almong the dogs, according to Thompson and Doyen.
One is Larry Crabtree, who lives on Bethel Church Road near where the dogs were found. Crabtree said he and his neighbors are concerned by what appears to be a rash of missing animals. Crabtree said his dog "Sarge," a boxer/chow mix has been missing nearly six months despite the reward offer of $500 for anyone who returns the animal. He said three of his immediate neighbors also have missing dogs.
References | Ann Arbor MI News - Nov 2, 1999 |
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