A second animal advocacy organization has joined the call for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever tortured, killed and dumped a pit bull found near a Woodland freeway onramp earlier this month.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund announced Friday it would contribute a $5,000 reward for suspect information, matching the amount offered last week by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“This innocent dog was senselessly tortured and killed and deserves justice. Anyone who would kill a defenseless dog in such a sick manner is also a danger to the community and needs to be taken off the streets,” ALDF Executive Director Stephen Wells said in a news release announcing the reward. “We urge anyone who has any information about this case to come forward and help get justice for this dog.”
There were no leads in the case as of late last week, Yolo County Chief Animal Services Officer Vicky Fletcher said.
A motorist discovered the 8- to 9-year-old dog on Jan. 8 along County Road 22 near the northbound Interstate 5 onramp east of Woodland, the still-warm carcass wrapped in a taped-up roll of carpeting.
Someone had put a plastic bag over the dog’s head and secured it with tape, and both the front and back legs had been taped together as well.
“This dog would have put up quite a fight,” Fletcher said, ranking it among the worst cases of animal torture she has seen.
Fletcher described the dog, which was not neutered and had no identification tags or microchip, as “well fed and well muscled” with a gray-brown coat, white chest and toes, and cropped ears “which were not professionally done.”
The animal also may have been used for dog fighting, having suffered anywhere from 50 to 100 bites — some of which had become infected — to one of his legs.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to call Animal Services at 530-668-5237 during normal business hours, or leave an anonymous tip at 530-668-5248 or via the Sheriff’s Office website, www.yolocountysheriff.com.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene